THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF 
EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 


e J.LEIGH  MUDGE 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF 
EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 


By 
E.  LEIGH  MUDGE 


A  Textbook  in  Teacher  Training,  conforming  to 
the  standard,  outlined  and  approved  by  the  Sunday 
School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations. 

THIRD     YEAR     SPECIALIZATION    SERIES 


Printed  for 

THE  TEACHER  TRAINING  PUBLISHING 
ASSOCIATION 

by 
THE  CAXTON  PRESS 

NEW  YORK 


' 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
E.  LEIGH  MUDGE 

AGRIG,  DEPTt  tyrf 


Printed  in  the  U cited  States  of  America 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGB 

SPECIALIZATION  COURSES  IN  TEACHER  TRAINING  ....  5 

A  DEVELOPING  FIELD  OF  STUDY n 

I.    THE  BACKGROUND  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 13 

II.    A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 20 

III.  PHYSICAL  CHANGES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 30 

IV.  THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  SEX  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE  39 
V.    INTELLECTUAL  PHASES  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE  . .  49 

VI.    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  FEELING 57 

VII.    ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 64 

VIII.    WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 76 

IX.    MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 88 

X.    THB  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE  . . .  100 


407548 


THIRD  YEAR  SPECIALIZATION  COURSES  IN  TEACHER 
TRAINING 

Conforming  to  the  Standard  and  Outlines  Approved  by  the 
Sunday  School  Council 

For  Teachers  of  Beginners 

A  Study  of  the  Little  Child.     Mary  T.  Whitley. 
Story  Telling  for  Teachers  of  Beginners  and  Primary  Chil- 
dren.    Katherine  D.  Gather. 
Methods  with  Beginners.     Frances  W.  Danielson. 

For  Teachers  of  Primary  Children 

The  Primary  Child.     Mary  T.  Whitley. 
Story  Telling  for  Teachers  of  Beginners  and  Primary  Chil- 
dren.    Katherine  D.  Gather. 
Methods  for  Primary  Teachers.     Hazel  Lewis. 

For  Teachers  of  Juniors 
Junior   Department  Organization  and  Administration.    Ida 

M.  Koontz. 
Other  units  in  preparation. 

For  Teachers  of  Adolescents 

(Intermediates,  Seniors,  and  Young  People.) 

Psychology  of  Early  Adolescence.     E.  Leigh  Mudge. 

Community  Forces  for  Religious  Education  (early  adoles- 
cence). G.  Walter  Fiske. 

Community  Forces  for  Religious  Education  (middle  adoles- 
cence). G.  Walter  Fiske. 

Other  units  in  preparation. 

For  Administrative  Officers  and  Teachers  of  Adults 
The  Psychology  of  Adult  Life.    Theodore  G.  Scares. 
Principles  of  Christian  Service.    Henry  F.  Cope. 
The  Educational  Task  of  the  Local  Church.    William  Clayton 

Bower. 
Other  units  in  preparation. 


SPECIALIZATION  COURSES  IN  TEACHER 
TRAINING 

IN  religious  education,  as  in  other  fields  of  construc- 
tive endeavor,  specialized  training  is  to-day  a  badge 
of  fitness  for  service.  Effective  leadership  presup- 
poses special  training.  For  teachers  and  administrative 
officers  in  the  church  school  a  thorough  preparation 
and  proper  personal  equipment  have  become  indis- 
pensable by  reason  of  the  rapid  development  of  the 
Sunday-school  curriculum  which  has  resulted  in  the 
widespread  introduction  and  use  of  graded  courses,  in 
the  rapid  extension  of  departmental  organization,  and 
in  greatly  improved  methods  of  teaching. 

Present-day  standards  and  courses  in  teacher  train- 
ing give  evidence  of  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the 
religious  educational  forces  of  North  America  to  pro- 
vide an  adequate  training  literature,  that  is,  properly 
graded  and  sufficiently  thorough  courses  and  text- 
books to  meet  the  growing  need  for  specialized  train- 
ing in  this  field.  Popular  as  well  as  professional  inter- 
est in  the  matter  is  reflected  in  the  constantly  increas- 
ing number  of  training  institutes,  community  and 
summer  training  schools,  and  college  chairs  and  de- 
partments of  religious  education.  Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  young  people  and  adults,  distributed  among 

5 


SPECIALIZATION  COURSES 

all  the  Protestant  Evangelical  churches  and  through- 
out every  state  and  province,  are  engaged  in  serious 
study,  in  many  cases  including  supervised  practice 
teaching,  with  a  view  to  preparing  for  service  as 
leaders  and  teachers  of  religion  or  of  increasing  their 
efficiency  in  the  work  in  which  they  are  already 
engaged. 

Most  of  these  students  and  student  teachers  are 
pursuing  some  portion  of  the  Standard  Course  of 
Teacher  Training  prepared  in  outline  by  the  Sunday 
School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations  for  all 
the  Protestant  churches  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  This  course  calls  for  a  minimum  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  lesson  periods  including  in  fair  edu- 
cational proportion  the  following  subjects: 

(a)  A  survey  of  Bible  material,  with  special  ref- 
erence to  the  teaching  values  of  the  Bible  as 
meeting  the  needs  of  the  pupil  in  successive 
periods  of  his  development. 

(&)  A  study  of  the  pupil  in  the  varied  stages  of  his 
growing  life. 

(c)  The  work  and  methods  of  the  teacher. 

(d)  The  Sunday  school  and  its  organization  and 
management. 

The  course  is  intended  to  cover  three  years  with  a 
minimum  of  forty  lesson  periods  for  each  year. 

Following  two  years  of  more  general  study,  provision 
for  specialization  is  made  in  the  third  year,  with 
separate  studies  for  Administrative  Officers,  and  for 
teachers  of  each  of  the  following  age  groups :  Begin- 

6 


SPECIALIZATION  COURSES 

ners  (under  6)  ;  Primary  (6-8)  ;  Junior  (9-11)  ;  Inter- 
mediate (12-14) ;  Senior  (15-17)  ;  Young  People  (18- 
24),  and  Adults  (over  24).  A  general  course  on 
Adolescence  covering  more  briefly  the  whole  period 
(13-24)  is  also  provided.  Thus  the  Third  Year 
Specialization,  of  which  this  textbook  is  one  unit,  pro- 
vides for  nine  separate  courses  of  forty  lesson  periods 
each. 

Which  of  these  nine  courses  is  to  be  pursued  by  any 
student  or  group  of  students  will  be  determined  by  the 
particular  place  each  expects  to  fill  as  teacher,  super- 
visor, or  administrative  officer  in  the  church  school. 
Teachers  of  Juniors  will  study  the  four  units  devoted 
to  the  Junior  Department.  Teachers  of  young  peo- 
ple's classes  will  choose  between  the  general  course  on 
Adolescence  and  the  course  on  Later  Adolescence. 
Superintendents  and  general  officers  in  the  school  will 
study  the  four  Administrative  units.  Many  will  pur- 
sue several  courses  in  successive  years,  thus  adding  to 
their  specialized  equipment  each  year.  On  page  four 
of  this  volume  will  be  found  a  complete  outline  of  the 
Specialization  Courses  arranged  by  departments. 

A  program  of  intensive  training  as  complete  as  that 
outlined  by  the  Sunday  School  Council  necessarily 
involves  the  preparation  and  publication  of  an  equally 
complete  series  of  textbooks  covering  no  less  than 
thirty-six  separate  units.  Comparatively  few  of  the 
denominations  represented  in  the  Sunday  School 
Council  are  able  independently  to  undertake  so  large 
a  program  of  textbook  production.  It  was  natural, 
therefore,  that  the  denominations  which  together  had 

7 


SPECIALIZATION  COURSES 

determined  the  general  outlines  of  the  Standard  course 
should  likewise  cooperate  in  the  production  of  the  re- 
quired textbooks.  Such  cooperation,  moreover,  was 
necessary  in  order  to  command  the  best  available  talent 
for  this  important  task,  and  in  order  to  insure  the  suc- 
cess of  the  total  enterprise.  Thus  it  came  about  that 
the  denominations  represented  in  the  Sunday  School 
Council,  with  a  few  exceptions,  united  in  the  syndicate 
production  of  the  entire  series  of  Specialization  units 
for  the  Third  Year. 

A  little  more  than  two  years  have  been  required  for 
the  selection  of  writers,  for  the  careful  advance  co- 
ordination of  their  several  tasks,  and  for  the  actual 
production  of  the  first  textbooks.  A  substantial  num- 
ber of  these  are  now  available.  They  will  be  followed 
in  rapid  succession  by  others  until  the  entire  series  for 
each  of  the  nine  courses  is  completed. 

The  preparation  of  these  textbooks  has  proceeded 
under  the  supervision  of  an  editorial  committee  repre- 
senting all  the  cooperating  denominations.  The  pub- 
lishing arrangements  have  been  made  by  a  similar 
committee  of  denominational  publishers  likewise 
representing  all  the  cooperating  churches.  Together 
the  Editors,  Educational  Secretaries,  and  Publishers 
have  organized  themselves  into  a  voluntary  association 
for  the  carrying  out  of  this  particular  task,  under  the 
name  Teacher  Training  Publishing  Association.  The 
actual  publication  of  the  separate  textbook  units  is 
done  by  the  various  denominational  Publishing  Houses 
in  accordance  with  assignments  made  by  the  Pub- 
lishers' Committee  of  the  Association.  The  enterprise 

8 


SPECIALIZATION  COURSES 

as  a  whole  represents  one  of  the  largest  and  most  sig- 
nificant ventures  which  has  thus  far  been  undertaken 
in  the  field  of  interdenominational  cooperation  in  reli- 
gious education.  The  textbooks  included  in  this  series, 
while  intended  primarily  for  teacher-training  classes 
in  local  churches  and  Sunday  schools,  are  admirably 
suited  for  use  in  interdenominational  and  community 
classes  and  training  schools. 

This  volume  includes  the  specialized  study  of  the 
intermediate  pupil.  The  period  of  early  adolescence, 
from  about  12  to  about  14,  coincides  with  the  period  of 
the  Intermediate  Department  in  our  Sunday-school 
classification  and  with  the  junior  high-school  period  in 
the  organization  of  the  public  school.  While  it  grows 
out  of  the  period  of  later  childhood  and  is  closely  re- 
lated to  that  stage  in  development,  and  while  it  also 
merges  gradually  into  middle  adolescence,  the  inter- 
mediate period  has  some  distinct  and  important  char- 
acteristics and  problems.  The  writer  of  this  book  has 
attempted  to  set  the  chief  distinguishing  marks  of  early 
adolescence  by  themselves,  to  study  the  problems  in- 
volved in  understanding  this  distinctly  problematic 
age  and  to  give  some  suggestions  for  practical  peda- 
gogy as  well  as  for  further  study. 

The  field  of  human  genetic  psychology  is  relatively 
new  and  untilled.  But  there  is  a  growing  feeling  that 
among  the  subjects  of  chief  importance  for  prospective 
teachers  none  is  more  important  than  a  study  of  the 
nature  of  the  pupil  to  be  instructed  and  guided.  And 
as  specialization  becomes  the  rule  both  in  the  public 
school  and  in  the  church  school  it  is  clear  that  teachers 


SPECIALIZATION  COURSES 

must  study  diligently  the  nature  of  the  pupils  they 
are  to  teach.  Within  the  past  decade  a  number  of 
very  valuable  general  studies  of  childhood  and  adoles- 
cence have  appeared.  This  series  of  specialization 
texts  marks  an  advance  step  in  acquainting  the  teacher 
in  training  with  a  definite  age  group  of  pupils.  The 
student  electing  this  course  will  study  the  nature  of 
intermediate  boys  and  girls.  It  is  hoped  that  this 
textbook  may  open  the  door  to  a  thorough  first-hand 
study  that  will  discover  many  elements  in  boy  and  girl 
life  which  cannot  be  discussed  within  the  limits  of  a 
brief  textbook. 

For  the  Teacher  Training  Publishing  Association, 

HENRY  H.  MEYER, 
Chairman  Editorial  Committee. 


10 


A  DEVELOPING  FIELD  OF  STUDY 

THE  history  of  a  modern  science  is  like  the  life 
history  of  a  tree.  Each  may  be  said  to  start  as  a  single 
stalk,  then  divide  into  two  or  three  branches.  These 
develop  into  still  others,  until  we  have  a  great  number 
of  specialized  twigs  all  related  to  the  parent  trunk. 
Thus  the  study  of  man  is  divided  into  such  great 
branches  as  physiology  and  psychology.  Psychology  is 
divided  into  a  variety  of  branches,  of  which  adult  psy- 
chology has  long  been  a  chief  branch.  Child  psy- 
chology is  a  rather  recent  development  When  the 
writer,  as  a  university  student,  less  than  twenty  years 
ago  wished  to  give  some  attention  to  child  psychology, 
he  was  dissuaded  with  the  information  that  "about  all 
that  we  know  about  child  psychology  is  that  we  know 
nothing  about  it."  Since  that  time  there  have  been 
many  students  of  this  subject,  most  of  them  including 
under  the  head  of  "child  psychology"  all  discussion  of 
the  developmental  period. 

The  first  major  division  to  grow  out  of  child  psy- 
chology was  the  psychology  of  adolescence,  which  has, 
in  its  turn,  been  treated  as  a  unitary  period.  Later 
students  divided  childhood  into  two  periods,  earlier 
and  later,  and  made  a  similar  division  of  adolescence. 
The  more  recent  custom,  which  we  follow  in  this  book, 
divides  childhood  into  three  periods  (after  infancy) 
and  makes  a  similar  threefold  division  of  adolescence. 

ii 


A  DEVELOPING  FIELD  OF  STUDY 

We  shall  here  discuss  the  earliest  of  these  adolescent 
periods — the  pubertal,  or  early-adolescent  period. 

This  volume  is  based  upon  the  author's  experience 
as  a  teacher  and  student  of  adolescent  life  both  in  the 
Sunday  school  and  in  the  public  school  and  higher 
institutions.  As  a  college  and  normal-school  teacher 
he  has  been  engaged  in  training  young  men  and  women 
for  teaching  adolescent  boys  and  girls  in  grade  schools 
and  high  schools.  Many  conclusions  in  this  book  are 
traceable  in  part  to  the  testimony  of  college  students 
to  their  memories  of  their  own  early  adolescence.  Al- 
though the  evidence  of  one's  memory  of  earlier  years 
must  be  accepted  with  discriminating  care,  the  relative 
nearness  of  these  students  to  the  period  investigated 
adds  to  the  value  of  their  testimony. 

It  is  hoped  that  teachers  and  students  who  read  this 
book  will  not  depend  on  it  for  all  or  even  the  larger 
part  of  their  knowledge  of  early  adolescence.  The 
function  of  a  textbook  is  very  different  from  that  of 
a  cyclopedia.  It  should  be  a  suggestive  gateway  into 
the  problems  of  the  subject  studied.  This  subject 
should  be  largely  a  laboratory  study,  your  laboratory 
being  your  own  classroom,  if  you  are  already  a  teacher, 
or  in  any  case  some  available  group  of  early  adolescent 
boys  or  girls.  Observe  them,  study  them,  and  seek  for 
a  sympathetic  contact  with  their  lives  and  their  prob- 
lems. 

At  the  end  of  each  chapter  will  be  found  a  series 
of  problems  or  projects  to  be  worked  out  by  the  stu- 
dent and  also  a  selected  list  of  references  which  will  be 
of  value. 

12 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  BACKGROUND  OF  ADOLESCENCE 

IT  is  difficult  to  describe  any  developing  thing.  You 
may  photograph  it,  analyze  it,  describe  it  as  it  is  to- 
day ;  but  to-morrow  it  will  be  different  and  will  need 
another  description.  To  make  your  descriptions  of 
any  value  you  must  employ  some  sort  of  measure  or 
classification,  so  as  to  distinguish  between  stages  of 
development.  Here  again  there  are  difficulties,  for 
your  scale  is  likely  to  be  more  or  less  arbitrary  and 
cannot  take  account  of  all  the  actual  changes  in  a 
constant  process  of  development.  When  to  these  diffi- 
culties is  added  the  exceeding  complexity  of  human 
life  and  the  human  organism,  the  difficulty  of  classify- 
ing the  developmental  period,  from  birth  to  adult  life, 
is  clearly  seen. 

DEFINING  THE  PERIOD 

This  difficulty  appears  when  we  attempt  to  define 
the  period  of  early  adolescence.  It  is  the  period  when 
the  myriad  forces  that,  within  a  few  years,  transform 
a  child  into  an  adult  are  in  their  first  swirling  confusion. 
It  is  frequently  called  the  pubertal  period,  because 
puberty  is  its  central  and  characteristic  experience. 
But  puberty  does  not  come  at  a  uniform  age.  It 
appears  earlier  in  girls  than  in  boys;  earlier  in  warm 
countries  than  in  cold ;  and  there  are  wide  individual 

13 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

variations  in  the  coming  of  this  epochal  physiological 
change.  But,  admitting  that  its  characteristic  marks 
may  appear  earlier  in  some  cases  than  in  others,  we 
may  conveniently  consider  the  period  of  early  adoles- 
cence to  include  the  years  from  twelve  to  fourteen  or 
fifteen.  Within  these  years  a  complex  and  tumultu- 
ous multitude  of  characteristics  come  into  prominence 
in  the  developing  nature.  We  shall  not  have  space  in 
this  textbook  even  to  name  them  all,  but  we  shall 
discuss  many  of  them  briefly  and  refer  to  books  in 
which  others  are  specially  treated. 

School  groups. — In  terms  of  Sunday-school  and 
public-school  classification  early  adolescence  is  the 
intermediate  or  junior-high-school  age.  Middle  ado- 
lescence covers  approximately  the  senior  age  in  the 
Sunday  school  or  the  senior-high-school  period — fifteen 
to  seventeen.  Later  adolescence  covers  the  years  of  the 
Sunday-school  Young  People's  Department  or  the  col- 
lege and  university  years — from  seventeen  or  eighteen 
to  about  twenty-four. 

ADOLESCENCE  AS  READJUSTMENT 

There  are  vast  differences  between  childhood  and 
adulthood,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  the  transition 
period  is  a  very  complicated  one.  It  is  a  period  of 
conflicting  impulses,  of  stress  and  strain,  of  a  multi- 
tude of  bewildering  characteristics  and  states.  Into 
the  whirlpool  of  adolescence  the  impulses  of  childhood 
are  poured.  Up  from  its  depths  arise  new  or  greatly 
modified  impulses,  and  out  of  it  flow  the  normally 
strong  though  relatively  placid  streams  of  adult  life. 


BACKGROUND  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

With  wide  individual  variations  adolescence  represents 
a  readjustment  of  bodily  and  mental  powers  and  of 
social  and  aesthetic  and  religious  relationships.  It 
should  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  adolescence  is 
merely  a  riot  of  new  forces  in  the  personality.  It  is 
organically  connected  with  childhood  and  should  be 
studied  with  constant  reference  to  the  period  out  of 
which  it  comes.  There  are  no  new  laws  of  thought 
or  emotion  in  adolescence ;  there  is  only  a  development, 
relatively  rapid,  to  be  sure,  of  mental  functions  already 
operative.  For  example,  reasoning,  submitting  all  ideas 
and  beliefs  to  the  adjudication  of  thought,  is  relatively 
characteristic  of  adolescence.  That  which  has  previ- 
ously been  accepted  as  true  must  satisfy  the  adolescent 
idea  of  reasonableness.  But  reasoning  does  not  sud- 
denly spring  into  being  at  this  point.  Thought  and 
logical  inference  have  been  developing  from  very  early 
childhood,  and  it  is  important  to  recognize  the  roots 
of  this  and  other  phases  of  the  adolescent  mind  in  the 
preceding  periods. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  PREADOLESCENT  PERIOD 

Early  adolescence  is  preceded  by  a  period  of  some 
years  which  may  be  called  "later  childhood/'  We 
shall  need  a  general  knowledge  of  the  characteristics  of 
this  period  in  order  to  understand  the  period  that  grows 
out  of  it.  The  following  list  of  characteristics  of  later 
childhood  may  be  supplemented  from  your  own  obser- 
vation and  from  your  study  of  books  on  childhood : 

Physical. — Relatively  slow  physical  growth;  great 
immunity  to  exposure;  growing  resistance  to  fatigue. 

15 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

Social. — Fighting,  quarreling,  and  teasing;  individ- 
ual interest  in  competitive  games ;  a  developing  "gang" 
tendency;  interest  in  clubs  and  societies;  interest  in 
chums;  an  apparent  sex  repulsion;  sympathy  with 
individual  suffering. 

Emotional  and  ethical. — Slight  but  growing  control 
of  emotions;  vivid  daydreams;  a  developing  code  of 
honor ;  no  clear  distinction  between  truth  and  imagina- 
tion; a  visual  image  of  God;  a  relative  readiness  to 
believe  what  older  people  say  about  religion;  little 
interest  in  religion  as  an  inner,  personal  experience. 

Intellectual. — Vivid  imagination ;  inventive  tend- 
ency; acute  perception;  interest  in  acquiring  skills; 
interest  in  memorizing ;  interest  in  reading ;  interest  in 
relatively  isolated  facts. 

Miscellaneous. — Interest  in  biography;  adventure 
interest ;  interest  in  pets ;  barter  or.temporary  exchange 
of  property;  indifference  of  boys  to  personal  appear- 
ance;1 the  tomboy  age  in  girls;  choosing  a  vocation 
without  a  reason. 

Significance  of  the  preadolescent  period. — All 
these  elements  in  the  preadolescent  period  are  impor- 
tant to  the  student  of  early  adolescence.  They  are  not 
suddenly  superseded  at  puberty;  they  develop  and 
change.  The  significance  of  education  appears  in  the 
fact  that  each  period  leans  upon  the  one  preceding  it. 
What  the  adolescent  boy  or  girl  is  depends  on  the  years 
of  childhood.  What  one  teacher  does  with  a  child 


»A  mother  writes  of  her  flfteen-year-old  son:  "He  has  just  taken  to 
combing  his  hair  without  coercion.  When  we  left  — • (two  years  be- 
fore), he  wept  because  he  had  to  spend  |23  of  his  money  for  a  suit;  yes- 
terday be  was  more  than  happy  to  spend  $36.50." 

16 


BACKGROUND  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

modifies  the  work  of  all  succeeding  teachers.  The  pre- 
adolescent  period  may  be  described  as  a  time  of  prep- 
aration, of  the  slow  but  steady  development  of  reserve 
energy  that  will  be  needed  in  the  storm  and  stress  of 
adolescence,  of  the  forming  and  fixing  of  habits  that 
should  be  well  established  by  the  time  the  currents  of 
new  and  strange  forces  come  sweeping  into  adolescent 
experience.  Throughout  this  period  the  development 
of  habits  of  right  conduct  and  religious  observance  and 
the  stimulation  of  worthy  ideals  are  of  high  importance. 
The  safety  of  our  boys  and  girls  in  adolescence  is 
largely  in  these  preestablished  ideals  and  habits. 

ADJUSTMENTS  TO  BE  MADE 

A  comparison  of  an  eleven-year-old  child  with  an 
adult  will  show  vividly  what  adjustments  must  be  made 
by  the  intervening  processes  of  adolescence.  A  typical 
eleven-year-old  boy  is  impulsive,  noisy,  careless  about 
personal  habits,  holds  girls  in  contempt  (or,  at  least, 
affects  to  do  so),  is  interested  in  concrete  situations 
but  not  in  abstractions,  fights  for  his  personal  rights, 
enjoys  games  that  reward  individual  prowess,  has 
strong  emotions  but  weak  self-control.  There  are 
many  changes  and  developments  to  be  made  before  he 
has  the  very  different  characteristics  of  manhood.  A 
girl  of  the  same  age  is  just  as  widely  different  from  a 
mature  woman.  The  changes  which  must  take  place 
are  the  work  of  adolescence.  Most  of  these  adjust- 
ments are  of  slower  growth  than  some  have  supposed, 
their  development  continuing  into  the  later  teens  or 

17 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

early  twenties ;  but  in  many  cases  their  most  vigorous 
and  rapid  growth  is  in  early  adolescence. 

It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  mark  their  adolescent 
flowering,  because  neither  the  boys  and  girls  themselves 
nor  their  adult  observers  understand  the  meaning  of 
impulses  when  they  first  appear.  Indeed,  many  of 
the  impulses  of  early  adolescence  are  vague  and  in- 
definite, apparently  meaningless,  and  hence  sometimes 
perplexing  and  distressing  to  those  who  experience 
them. 

It  is  the  work  of  adolescence  to  develop  out  of  a 
child's  body,  mind,  moral  attitudes,  and  aesthetic  ap- 
preciations the  vastly  different  corresponding  qualities 
of  an  adult.  Habits  and  skills  that  cannot  be  fully  de- 
veloped in  childhood  must  be  perfected.  Instincts  that 
have  been  but  slightly  manifest  in  childhood  must  be 
brought  into  full  functioning.  Some  of  the  instincts 
and  emotions  have  been  relatively  unchecked  in  child- 
hood, while  others  have  been  repressed  or  have  not 
appeared  with  any  degree  of  energy.  These  must  be 
harmonized  and  wrought  into  a  unity.  There  are 
three  ways  in  which  an  instinct  may  be  modified.  It 
may  be  facilitated  or  encouraged ;  it  may  be  inhibited  or 
repressed;  or  it  may  be  sublimated  or  changed  in  its 
expression.  It  is  the  work  of  education  consciously  to 
effect  such  modifications.  There  are  certain  modifica- 
tions of  instincts  which  the  processes  of  adolescence 
seem  to  effect  without  our  aid.  Thus,  the  social  im- 
pulses are  normally  facilitated  in  early  adolescence,  but 
emotional  expression  is  relatively  inhibited.  Thus,  the 
impulse  of  fear  undergoes  sublimation,  being  in  great 

18 


BACKGROUND  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

degree  modified  from  the  original  tendency  to  flight 
or  terror  until  it  becomes  a  chief  element  in  the  feelings 
of  awe  and  reverence.  The  teacher  should  be  familiar 
with  these  normal  adjustments  and  should  know  how 
to  influence  his  pupils  so  as  to  effect  other  desirable 
modifications  of  their  impulses.  The  important  part 
assumed  by  early  adolescence  in  making  the  adjust- 
ments needed  between  childhood  and  adult  life  will  be 
shown  in  succeeding  chapters. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Write  a  careful  description  of  some  preadolescent 
boy  or  girl  whom  you  know.     Then  parallel  this  by 
indicating  the  changes  that  must  take  place  before  he 
or  she  is  a  normally  developed  adult. 

2.  The  period  beginning  about  the  fifteenth  year 
and  ending  about  the  seventeenth  is  called  "middle 
adolescence/'     With  definite  boys  and  girls  in  mind 
make  a  list  of  characteristics  of  this  period,  showing 
wherein  it  differs  from  early  adolescence. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  High-School  Age,  King,  Chapter  V. 

Seven  Ages  of  Childhood,  Cabot,  Chapters  I  to  IV. 

Girlhood  and  Character,  Moxcey,  Chapters  II  and 
III. 

Adolescence,  Hall,  two  volumes. 

Youth,  Hall. 

The  Psychology  of  Childhood,  Nors worthy  and 
Whitley. 

Introduction  to  Child  Psychology,  Waddle. 


CHAPTER  II 
A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 

To  UNDERSTAND  any  period  it  is  necessary  not  only 
to  know  its  characteristics  and  to  know  something  of 
the  period  out  of  which  it  comes,  but  also  to  have  some 
understanding  of  the  period  into  which  it  develops. 
Hence,  we  should  constantly  view  early  adolescence 
against  the  background  of  the  whole  developmental 
period  of  childhood  and  youth. 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  ADOLESCENCE 

The  study  of  adolescence  is  difficult  because  of  the 
relatively  rapid  changes,  physical  and  mental,  which 
are  occurring.  These  changes  are  not  clear  and  distinct 
successive  states,  but  a  veritable  whirlpool  of  new 
forces  that  enter  the  life  of  boy  or  girl  to  the  great 
bewilderment  of  everyone,  including  these  young  peo- 
ple themselves.  There  is  a  paradoxical  blend  of  new 
and  old  impulses,  of  mutually  contradictory  impulses, 
so  that  in  early  adolescence  many  impulses  are  vague 
and  perplexing.  "I  don't  understand  Mary,"  says  her 
mother.  "She  has  the  keenest  mind  of  any  of  my  chil- 
dren, but  her  Sunday-school  teacher  says  she  is  restless 
and  mischievous  in  class  and  never  joins  in  the  dis- 
cussions or  answers  a  question."  "John,  why  do  you 
act  this  way  ?"  asks  his  puzzled  father,  when  John 

20 


A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 

moodily  refuses  to  wear  the  hat  he  has  long  been  ask- 
ing for,  and  will  not  give  any  explanation  for  his 
refusal.  John  and  Mary  themselves  do  not  understand 
the  reason  for  the  queer  impulses  and  unreasonable  be- 
havior that  make  them  such  a  problem  to  older  peo- 
ple. They  often  feel  a  vague  sense  of  estrangement. 
Susan  Dorsey  tells  of  a  young  girl  who  said  to  another 
after  a  speaker  had  urged  the  junior  high-school  girls 
to  spend  more  time  at  home,  "Wasn't  it  strange  for 

Mrs.  to  tell  us  to  get  acquainted   with  our 

mothers?  I  know  my  mother."  "Well,"  replied  the 
other  girl,  "maybe  you  do,  but  I  don't  know  my  mother, 
and  I  can't  get  acquainted  with  her." 

A  complex  period. — The  whirlpool  of  adolescent 
impulses  is  not  a  chaos,  however;  it  has  its  dominant 
currents,  which,  after  a  time,  emerge  from  the  swirl 
of  new  feelings,  emotions,  and  ideas,  become  more  and 
more  regular,  dependable,  and  clear,  until  they  assume 
the  relatively  even  flow  of  adult  life.  Human  life 
is  never  simple.  There  are  unmeasured  complexities 
in  the  life  of  the  newborn  babe  or  the  mature  man, 
but  the  period  of  adolescence  is  one  of  unusual  com- 
plexity, at  least  to  superficial  observation.  Percy  R. 
Hayward  tells  of  a  group  of  boys  who  unanimously 
agreed  to  attend  a  contest  with  groups  from  other 
churches.  Only  two  of  the  boys  appeared.  A  month 
later,  when  a  similar  competition  was  held,  the  boys 
came  in  full  force  and  entered  enthusiastically  into  the 
contest.  Were  they  insincere  in  promising  to  attend 
the  first  contest?  No,  but  they  experienced  a  char- 
acteristic adolescent  change  of  feeling.  They  became 

21 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

self-conscious,  afraid  of  failure  in  the  competition.  It 
is  this  sort  of  paradoxical,  complex  behavior  which 
puzzles  and  worries  many  parents  and  teachers. 

POSSIBLE  OVEREMPHASIS  ON  CLASSIFICATION 

The  student  should  be  aware  of  the  constant  danger 
of  overemphasizing  the  various  divisions  into  periods. 
We  are  dealing  with  organisms,  bodies  and  minds, 
which  are  constantly  changing,  and  with  periods  that 
merge  into  one  another  as  do  the  various  life  stages  of 
an  oak  tree.  But,  since  the  development  is  not  a  steady, 
dead-level  progress,  we  may  aid  our  study  by  dis- 
tinguishing certain  stages.  We  may  divide  adolescence 
into  three  periods — early,  middle,  and  later  adoles- 
cence. 

COMPARISON  OF  EARLY  WITH  MIDDLE  ADOLESCENCE 

It  is  natural  that  the  perplexing  vagaries  of  currents 
and  counter-currents  should  be  most  noticeable  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  adolescence.  Early  adolescence  is  in 
the  grip  of  relatively  unknown  forces  and  is  conse- 
quently bewildered,  awkward,  self-conscious.  The  boy 
of  this  period  doesn't  know  what  to  do  with  his  hands 
or  his  feet,  and  this  may  symbolize  his  relation  to  many 
things  with  which  he  has  to  deal.  He  does  not  know 
how  to  use  his  enlarging  muscles,  his  lengthening 
bones,  his  changing  physical  impulses,  his  new  feelings 
and  motives,  and  the  new  ideas  that  accompany  these 
other  changes.  So  he  amazes  his  parents  by  strange 
antics,  loud  laughter,  unconventional  behavior,  and  a 
queer  blend  of  half-mature,  half-childish  ideas. 

22 


A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 

A  higher  development. — Middle  adolescence  is  be- 
ginning to  get  used  to  the  newer  life  forces.  The  large 
fundamental  muscles  are  under  better  control  and  skill 
in  the  finer  muscular  coordinations  is  developing.  The 
body  is  normally  becoming  more  symmetrical  and  less 
angular.  Awkwardness  is  giving  way  to  more  graceful 
movements.  And  with  the  physical  refinements  a 
better  mental  balance  is  being  attained.  Despite  the 
self-distrust  that  often  still  appears  there  is  a  distinct 
self-confidence,  often  unreasonably  exaggerated.  The 
fits  of  sulkiness  which  characterized  the  earlier  period 
have  led  to  a  characteristic  melancholy,  which  alter- 
nates with  periods  of  joy  and  cheerfulness.  An  ex- 
amination of  the  precocious  poems  written  by  our 
notable  poets  in  middle  adolescence  or  a  little  later 
shows  clearly  this  characteristic  melancholy.  Some- 
times it  appears  in  early  adolescence,  but  it  is  usually 
a  middle-adolescent  trait. 

Aesthetic  appreciation. — Middle  adolescence  wit- 
nesses the  normal  flowering  of  the  love  of  beauty. 
^Esthetic  appreciation  has  been  growing  through  early 
adolescence,  but  has  still  much  of  the  childish  love  of 
bright  colors,  loud  sounds,  vivid  sensory  experiences. 
There  is  no  sudden  leap  into  full  appreciation,  but 
beauty  seems  to  make  a  much  deeper  appeal  in  the 
midst  of  the  middle-adolescent  years  than  ever  before. 

Sex  relations. — How  large  a  part  of  the  incipient 
courtship  of  early  adolescence  is  due  to  the  unduly 
stimulating  suggestions  of  older  persons  is  hard  to 
determine.  There  is  evidently  a  new  attitude  of  inter- 
est in  the  opposite  sex  in  the  boy  or  girl  of  this  period, 

23 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

though  the  time  to  expect  the  budding  of  individual 
romance  is  normally  the  later  period.  Middle  adoles- 
cence is  usually  the  period  of  the  first  definite  love 
interest,  and  very  real  though  frequently  short-lived 
courtships  may  be  expected  at  this  time.  There  is  a 
notable  development  of  social  attitudes  that  aids  in 
the  differentiation  of  middle  from  early  adolescence. 
Early  adolescence  is  the  climax  of  the  gang  period — the 
time  when  boys  or  girls  form  naturally  in  rather  small 
groups  and  also  are  interested  in  chums  of  the  same 
sex.  In  middle  adolescence  there  are  perhaps  fewer 
chums  but  a  tendency  of  such  friendships  to  be  more 
permanent,  while  the  general  social  interest  extends 
to  larger  groups. 

COMPARISON  WITH  LATER  ADOLESCENCE 

The  term  "later  adolescence"  has  been  used  for  the 
period  from  about  seventeen  years  to  perhaps  twenty- 
four.  This  includes  the  college  years  for  one  fortunate 
group  and  the  years  when  life  is  settling  down  to  its 
pace  of  permanent  service  and  adult  interests.  These 
are  the  years  when  the  various  and  often  inharmonious 
impulses  of  adolescence  are  resolved  into  some  sort  of 
balance;  when  habits  of  acting  and  feeling  and  think- 
ing are  approaching  a  relative  fixity.  Some  of  the 
differences  between  this  period  and  early  adolescence 
may  be  indicated  by  a  study  made  by  the  author  with 
the  assistance  of  nearly  two  hundred  college  and 
university  students.  These  students,  themselves  in  the 
midst  of  the  period  of  later  adolescence,  were  asked 
to  recall  their  experiences,  impulses,  and  interests  of 

24 


A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 

the  age  of  fifteen  and  compare  them  with  their  present 
experiences  as  to  their  relative  strength  or  vividness. 
Obviously  this  involves  the  uncertainty  of  memory, 
and  the  recorded  judgments  should  not  be  taken  as 
positive  and  conclusive  evidence  by  themselves.  Their 
testimony  is  of  value,  however,  as  contributory  evi- 
dence. The  following  statements  appear  to  be  war- 
ranted by  this  study : 

Contrasting  interests. — In  later  adolescence  there 
is  greater  interest  than  in  early  adolescence  in  business 
matters,  machinery,  love  stories,  visual  art,  music, 
literature,  newspapers,  politics,  and  social  functions. 

There  is  less  interest  in  later  adolescence  than  in 
early  adolescence  in  pets,  collections,  adventure  stories, 
puzzles,  and  active  games.  This  does  not  necessarily 
mean  that  these  interests  disappear  in  later  adolescence. 
Indeed,  the  author's  study  of  girls'  collections1  shows 
that  there  is  a  wide  variety  of  collection  interests  ex- 
tending into  the  college  years. 

Other  characteristics  of  later  adolescence,  accord- 
ing to  this  study,  are  ease  of  controlling  emotions,  will- 
ingness to  accept  authority,  feelings  of  responsibility, 
ability  to  concentrate,  concrete  planning  for  the  future. 
In  early  adolescence,  however,  quick  anger,  daydream- 
ing and  vivid  night  dreams  appear  characteristic. 

EARLY  ADOLESCENCE  A  TRANSITION  PERIOD 

Transition  periods,  in  the  life  of  an  individual  or  of 
a  social  group,  are  likely  to  be  marked  by  irregular 

^Pedagogical  Seminary,  Volume  XXV,  Number  3,  September,  1918, 
page  319. 

25 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

progress,  a  mixture  of  tendencies  and  counter-tend- 
encies, and  a  considerable  degree  of  noise  and  disturb- 
ance, all  of  which  are  disconcerting  to  a  mature  individ- 
ual or  a  developed  social  state.  Early  adolescence  is 
such  a  period.  It  is  essential  that  the  child  become  an 
adult,  and  this  cannot  be  accomplished  by  any  instan- 
taneous transformation.  There  must  be  a  process  of 
growth,  and  this  necessitates  many  adjustments  and 
readjustments.  One  must  learn  how  to  use  larger 
and  stronger  muscles,  how  to  control  a  changing  system 
of  nervous  responses,  feelings,  and  emotions,  how  to 
maintain  a  mental  balance  in  the  midst  of  experiences 
impossible  before.  As  new  forces  and  influences  ap- 
pear in  the  life  of  the  adolescent  boy,  the  world  itself, 
for  him,  becomes  changed.  He  lives  in  one  world  in 
childhood ;  now  he  must  adjust  himself  to  a  very  differ- 
ent world;  and  in  so  doing  he  is  being  prepared  for 
the  adult  world  which  lies  beyond.  He  becomes  con- 
scious of  many  elements  in  human  life  which  he  has 
not  known.  His  social  outlook  widens  and  he  becomes 
conscious  of  new  social  relationships  into  which  he 
must  enter.  He  becomes  self-conscious  and  awkward 
and  shy.  He  is  attracted  toward  new  social  relation- 
ships and  also  is  afraid  of  them.  He  wants  to  join 
the  crowd,  but  he  is  bashful.  He  is  anxious  to  please 
and  afraid  of  offending,  and  still  may  feel  a  wild 
delight  in  shocking  people.  He  has  a  new  social  con- 
sciousness, but  has  not  outgrown  the  self-regard  of 
childhood.  Being  neither  a  child  nor  a  man,  but  hav- 
ing a  mixture  of  the  traits  of  childhood  and  manhood, 
he  is  a  complex  of  contradictions.  At  times,  and  some- 

26 


A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 

times  almost  simultaneously,  he  is  bold  and  timid,  self- 
assertive  and  self-reproachful,  careless  and  particular, 
sensitive  and  apparently  callous,  ill-humored  and  cheer- 
ful, irascible  and  meek. 

WHY  THEY  ARE  MISUNDERSTOOD 

It  is  not  strange  that  boys  and  girls  of  this  age  are 
misunderstood  by  older  people.  Still  less  should  they 
be  expected  to  understand  themselves.  Until  we  know 
that  such  complexities  and  self-contradictory  traits 
as  are  mentioned  above  are  normal  and  natural  we  are 
not  prepared  to  deal  sympathetically  with  early  adoles- 
cence. The  blind  blundering  of  parents  and  teachers 
and  law-enforcement  officers  has  done  vast  harm  to 
many  boys  and  girls  who  might  have  been  saved  from 
lives  of  vice  and  crime  had  they  been  treated  intelli- 
gently and  sympathetically.  If  you  have  in  your  class 
a  "bad"  boy  or  the  girl  whom  the  teachers  call  the 
"terror"  of  the  school  you  have  a  problem  to  be  solved 
not  by  severity  and  sarcasm,  but  by  a  patient  study  of 
the  nature,  needs,  and  interests  of  this  individual  pupil. 

The  runaway  tendency. — The  often-observed  tend- 
ency of  boys  or  girls  of  this  period  to  run  away  from 
home  is  due  in  part  to  the  native  ^vanderlust  that  most 
of  us  feel  to  some  extent  and  which  has  appeared  be- 
fore in  the  running  away  of  childhood;  but  another 
contributing  cause  is  that  parents  frequently  get  out 
of  touch  with  the  boys  and  girls  whose  impulses  and 
motives  they  do  not  understand.  A  frequent  ground 
of  misunderstanding  is  the  indolence  of  which  active 
parents  often  complain.  Boys  and  girls  who  have  been 

27 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

energetic  and  alert  often  puzzle  older  people  by  their 
laziness  in  early  adolescence.  This  is  frequently  due 
to  rapid  bodily  growth  and  the  increasing  strain  upon 
heart,  lungs,  and  other  visceral  organs.  The  adrenal 
glands,  whose  function  it  is  to  stimulate  and  "tone  up'1 
the  muscular  system,  become  easily  exhausted  in  this 
period  when  rapid  growth  puts  new  demands  upon 
them.  Frequently  there  is  energy  coming  in  spurts 
followed  by  periods  of  lassitude.  The  indolence  of 
early  adolescence  should  be  met  with  sympathy  rather 
than  unqualified  disapproval.  The  boys  and  girls  are 
aware  of  this  characteristic  laziness,  but  they  do  not 
understand  its  cause.  Understanding  and  helpful 
teachers  are  greatly  needed. 

Many  boys  and  girls  who  have  been  blamed  for 
indolence  in  early  adolescence  have  become  active  and 
energetic  in  later  years.  Special  consideration  should 
be  shown  the  girls  at  this  time,  when  important  life 
functions  are  being  established. 

PEDAGOGICAL  HINTS 

Our  boys  and  girls  are  puzzling  enough  at  best,  but 
they  are  less  perplexing  to  us  as  teachers  if  we  recognize 
that  shifting  moods  and  contradictory  traits  are  normal. 
Do  not  expect  that  John  will  come  to  Sunday  school 
every  Sunday  in  the  same  mood,  or  that  Mary's  be- 
havior can  always  be  predicted.  But  do  not  make  the 
mistake  of  treating  them  as  children.  They  are  not 
children  and  will  resent  being  included  in  that  category. 
They  should  have  as  distinct  a  place  in  the  church 
school  as  in  the  junior  high  school. 

28 


A  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION 


PROBLEMS 

1.  Write  a  list  of  characteristics   of    (a)    middle 
adolescence;  (&)  later  adolescence. 

2.  Recall  your  own  early  adolescence  and  describe 
the  impulses  that  were  stronger  then  than  now. 

3.  Make  a  list  of  books  of  fiction  which  describe 
adolescent  life  and  locate  the  characters  as  to  whether 
they  are  in  early,  middle,  or  later  adolescence. 

BOOKS  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  Pupil  and  the  Teacher,  Weigle,  Chapters  VI 
and  VII. 

The  High-School  Age,  King,  Chapters  VIII  and  IX. 
Girlhood  and  Character,  Moxcey,  Parts  III  and  IV. 
The  Pupil,  Barclay,  Chapter  IX. 


29 


CHAPTER  III 


PHYSICAL  CHANGES  IN  EARLY  ADOLES- 
CENCE 

GENERAL  GROWTH 

ALL  the  physical  developments  of  early  adolescence 
are  vitally  related  to  the  wonderful  process  which  we 
call  puberty.  The  preceding  period  has  been  one  of 
relatively  slow  growth,  although  there  has  been  a  dis- 
tinct lengthening  of  the  arms  and  legs.  It  has  been 
called  the  "angular  age."  After  the  first  premonitory 
symptoms  of  puberty  there  is  relatively  rapid  growth, 
both  in  height  and  weight,  continuing  until  toward  the 
end  of  middle  adolescence,  when  the  rate  of  growth 
decreases.  The  following  table  gives  the  average 
heights  and  weights  of  boys  and  girls  through  later 
childhood  and  into  middle  adolescence : 

TABLE  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  HEIGHTS 


AGE 

WEIGHT 

HEIGHT 

10  years  

Male 
66.6 
72.4 
79.8 
88.3 
99.3 
110.8 
123.7 

Female 
64.1 
70.3 
81.4 
91.2 
100.3 
108.4 
113.0 

Male 
52.2 
54.0 
55.8 
58.2 
61.0 
63.0 
65.6 

Female 
51.8 
53.8 
57.1 
58.7 
60.3 
61.4 
61.7 

11  years  

12  years  

13  years  

14  years  

15  years  

16  years  

30 


PHYSICAL  CHANGES 

RELATION  OF  GROWTH  TO  PUBERTY 

It  will  be  noticed  that  at  about  twelve  to  fourteen 
years  the  average  girl  exceeds  the  average  boy  in  both 
height  and  weight,  although  at  all  other  times  boys  are 
taller  and  heavier  than  girls.  The  explanation  of  this 
is  in  the  close  relation  of  early  adolescent  growth  to 
puberty,  the  girl  attaining  the  puberty  maturity  a  year 
or  so  earlier  than  the  boy.  Irving  King,  in  The  High- 
School  Age,  which  is  one  of  the  most  important  books 
for  your  reference  shelf,  shows  the  close  relation  be- 
tween early  adolescent  growth  and  puberty. 

The  maturing  of  the  sex  function  is  of  course  central 
in  all  these  physical  changes,  and  the  rapid  increase  in 
stature  is  so  nearly  coincident  with  the  change  of 
puberty  that  it  may  ordinarily  be  taken  as  a  proof  that 
that  change  has  taken  place.  It  should  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  the  period  of  most  rapid  growth  is  usually 
well  toward  completion  at  the  appearance  of  puberty. 

Muscular  growth. — During  early  adolescence  there 
is  a  relatively  rapid  development  of  the  large  muscles 
both  in  length  and  thickness.  This  is  closely  related 
with  the  "muscle  hunger"  (the  impulse  to  activity  of 
the  larger  muscles)  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
period.  The  finer  developments  of  smaller  muscles 
come  later.  Now  the  boy  or  girl  is  occupied  with  the 
larger  bodily  movements  and  is  not  so  skillful  in  the 
use  of  small  muscles.  This  muscular  growth  is  less 
pronounced  in  girls  than  in  boys,  while  a  greater  tend- 
ency to  develop  fat  has  been  observed  in  girls.  These 
differences  may  be  partly  due  to  the  girl's  having  less 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

exercise  and  partly  to  the  adaptation  of  her  body  to 
the  later  functions  of  maternity.  They  certainly  indi- 
cate that  wholesomely  vigorous  exercise  is  important 
for  girls. 

Irregular  growth. — Not  infrequently  there  is  a 
difference  in  rate  of  growth  between  bones  and  muscles. 
When  the  muscle  growth  is  slower,  "growing  pains" 
are  frequent  at  this  period.  A  muscular  overgrowth 
may  explain  the  extreme  flexibility  of  joints  some- 
times observed.  Muscle  growth  is  not  always  sym- 
metrical, and  careless  habits  of  posture  or  movements 
may  result  in  accentuated  distortions,  spinal  curvatures, 
etc. 

Awkwardness. — All  these  changes  in  bone  and 
muscle  have  their  effects  upon  behavior.  Since  the 
long  bones  are  levers,  any  rapid  changes  in  their 
length  involve,  according  to  the  laws  of  mechanics, 
corresponding  changes  in  the  force  that  must  be  applied 
in  order  to  move  them.  As  muscles  grow,  there  are 
changes  in  the  effort  involved  in  their  use.  The  natural 
result  is  that  this  is  an  age  of  awkwardness,  especially 
for  those  whose  growth  has  been  most  rapid.  Much 
allowance  should  be  given  for  this  fact  in  judging  the 
behavior  of  boys  and  girls  who  seem  heedlessly  awk- 
ward. Walking  on  stilts  is  awkward  exercise  for 
most  people,  and  this  is  practically  what  the  boy  or 
girl  is  doing  at  the  time  of  the  rapid  growth  about  the 
beginning  of  adolescence. 

Resistance  to  fatigue. — Changes  in  visceral  organs 
and  in  bones  and  muscles  are  closely  related  with  a 
changing  resistance  to  fatigue.  Throughout  later  child- 

32 


PHYSICAL  CHANGES 

hood  there  has  been  a  growing  power  to  resist  fatigue, 
but  this  increase  is  noticeably  diminished  ©r  may  give 
place  to  an  actual  decrease  in  the  early  pubertal  period. 
The  result  of  this  may  be  indolence,  or  there  may  be 
a  muscle  intoxication  that  is  a  veritable  "hunger  for 
fatigue/1 

CHANGES  RELATING  TO  PUBERTY 

The  fact  that  puberty,  the  maturing  process  of  the 
sex  functions,  is  so  clearly  related  to  these  and  many 
other  physical  developments  indicates  that  the  nervous 
and  mental  and  moral  and  social  phenomena  related  to 
sex  are  of  great  importance  not  only  in  adolescence  but 
in  all  later  life.  The  instincts  involved  in  sex  have  been 
called  "delayed  instincts/'  Their  full  development  has 
been  delayed,  it  is  true ;  but  we  can  trace  the  develop- 
ment of  the  feelings,  attitudes,  and  sentiments  related 
to  sex  through  the  years  from  early  childhood.  It  is 
the  delicate  differences  of  disposition  and  attitude  and 
behavior  between  girl  and  boy  in  childhood  which  lead 
to  the  more  distinctly  recognized  sex  differences  of 
adolescence. 

Secondary  sex  characteristics. — With  the  appear- 
ance of  puberty  the  boy  experiences  the  change  of 
voice  from  the  childish  treble  to  a  deeper  resonance. 
This  process  is  often  irregular,  and  for  a  time  the  two 
types  of  voice  may  be  oddly  mixed.  The  boy  also  dis- 
covers the  rudimentary  beginnings  of  a  beard.  The 
girl's  voice  also  changes,  but  so  gradually  that  the 
modification  is  less  noticeable.  There  is  a  decided  dif- 
ference between  the  child  voice  and  that  of  the  girl  in 

33 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

middle  adolescence.  The  girl  begins  to  develop  the 
characteristic  bodily  figure  of  womanhood  with  the 
enlarging  of  breasts  and  hips.  In  both  sexes  a  notice- 
able factor  in  pubertal  growth  is  the  relative  lengthen- 
ing of  the  trunk. 

VISCERAL  ORGANS  AND  GLANDS 

In  infancy  and  early  childhood  the  necessities  of 
growth  demand  a  proportionally  large  intestinal  capac- 
ity. The  weight  of  the  intestine  is  at  birth  6.7  per 
cent  of  the  total  weight;  by  adolescence  it  has  been 
relatively  reduced  to  about  3.3  per  cent.  The  heart, 
liver,  and  kidneys  are  also  relatively  large  in  infancy, 
the  rate  of  growth  being  less  during  the  succeeding 
periods  of  childhood.  With  the  coming  of  adolescence 
the  heart  makes  another  rapid  growth.  The  adolescent 
heart  is  large  but  relatively  weak,  while  the  arteries  are 
proportionally  small ;  hence,  the  blood  pressure  is  high. 
The  development  of  lung  capacity  is  peculiarly  vari- 
able, depending  very  largely  on  habits  of  exercise  and 
outdoor  life.  There  is  perhaps  no  better  test  for  the 
health  and  vigor  of  either  children  or  adolescents  than 
a  test  of  lung  capacity. 

Glands  and  their  secretions. — The  influence  of 
glands  and  their  secretions  upon  bodily  and  mental 
growth  is  a  subject  that  merits  much  attention.  The 
development  of  the  glands  of  the  reproductive  system 
is  accompanied  by  changes  in  various  other  glands. 
Perhaps  all  of  the  glands  of  the  body  undergo  some 
distinct  modification  at  puberty.  Changes  have  been 
observed  in  perspiration  and  in  the  secretion  of  the 

34 


PHYSICAL  CHANGES 

sebacious  glands.  The  sweat  glands  and  the  sebacious 
glands  become  more  active.  The  skin  becomes  more 
oily.  Pimples  and  skin  eruptions  are  characteristics. 
The  liver  and  kidneys  are  relatively  large,  but  the 
thyroid  gland  decreases  in  weight  at  puberty,  the 
thymus  gland  having  normally  atrophied  and  ceased 
to  function  at  six  or  seven.  Both  these  glands  have 
important  functions,  especially  in  childhood,  in  regulat- 
ing bodily  growth  and  mental  development.  They  be- 
long to  the  ductless  group,  in  which  are  included  the 
adrenals,  the  pineal,  and  the  pituitary  body.  The 
adrenals  secrete  a  substance  called  adrenin,  which  acts 
as  a  stimulant  to  the  heart  and  external  muscular 
system,  but  inhibits  the  action  of  the  muscles  of  the 
digestive  apparatus.  It  is  very  closely  related  with  the 
sex  glands  and  plays  a  major  part  in  the  bodily  re- 
actions in  all  strong  emotions.  There  is  a  close  rela- 
tion also  between  the  pituitary  body  and  the  functions 
of  sex.  Indeed,  all  these  glands,  whose  influence  upon 
body  and  mind  is  great,  are  closely  related  in  their 
development  to  the  processes  of  puberty. 

Nerve  and  brain  development. — At  puberty  the 
brain  has  attained  nearly  its  largest  size,  though  there 
is  considerable  further  growth  of  the  skull.  But  there 
is  a  great  development  in  early  adolescence  of  the  con- 
nection between  different  parts  of  the  brain.  The  brain 
developments  of  adolescence  are  hard  to  describe,  but 
there  is  a  period  of  transition,  development,  adjust- 
ment, in  which  nervous  energy  does  not  find  ready 
modes  of  response.  The  result  is  the  nervous  insta- 
bility, the  emotional  shifts,  the  frequently  changing 

35 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

moods,  of  the  adolescent  period.  The  relation  to 
mental  abnormalities  of  this  period  in  nervous  develop- 
ment will  be  shown  in  a  later  chapter. 

The  extent  and  vital  influence  of  all  the  foregoing 
changes  upon  mind  as  well  as  body  indicate  clearly  that 
teachers  should  know  the  physiology  of  development, 
should  seek  for  the  best  hygienic  conditions  for  chil- 
dren and  young  people,  and  should  recognize  the  value 
of  fresh  air  and  suitable  food  and  exercise  and  a 
school  program  adapted  to  the  changing  needs  of  child- 
hood and  adolescence. 

FOUR  KINDS  OF  AGE 

The  word  "age"  is  used  in  four  different  senses, 
which  should  be  understood  by  every  church-school  or 
public-school  teacher : 

1.  Chronological  age. — We  often  make  serious  mis- 
takes by  overemphasizing,  in  our  grading,  promotion, 
and  general  treatment  of  a  pupil,  the  mere  number  of 
years  and  months  a  boy  or  girl  has  lived. 

2.  Physiological  age. — Some  develop  their  bodily 
functions  faster  than  others.    One  boy  of  twelve  may 
be  as  mature  physiologically  as  another  boy  of  four- 
teen.    Physiological  age  is  measured  not  by  years  but 
by  physiological  development. 

3.  Mental  age. — Many  who  are  mature  in  their  gen- 
eral bodily  functions  are  relatively  immature  mentally. 
Some   minds  develop  slowly,   others   rapidly.     Some 
minds  are  incapable  of  development  beyond  a  certain 
point.    Various  mental  tests  have  been  devised  to  meas- 
ure   general    intelligence    and    thus    determine    one's 

36 


PHYSICAL  CHANGES 

mental  age.  It  is  probable  that  mental  age,  during 
the  developmental  period,  is  generally  related  to 
physiological  age.  The  development  of  mental  ma- 
turity depends  largely  on  the  progress  of  physical 
maturing.1 

4.  Pedagogical  age. — The  fourth  use  of  the  term 
"age,"  a  somewhat  unusual  one,  is  in  the  sense  of 
school  progress  as  measured  by  grades. 

It  is  important  that  the  teacher  shall  know  the  rea- 
sons for  many  wide  variations  between  boys  and  girls 
of  the  same  chronological  age.  Puberty  works  decided 
changes  in  the  organism  and  in  the  mental  powers, 
and  these  changes  involve  a  relatively  rapid  shifting 
of  interests  and  motives  and  impulses. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  In  view  of  the  physical  development  of  early 
adolescence  what  are  the  most  wholesome  types  of  play 
for  this  period? 

2.  Estimate  the  heights  and  weights  of  a  group  of 
children  of   similar  chronological  age.     How  nearly 
uniform  are  they? 

3.  Is  chronological  age  a  sufficient  basis  for  Sunday- 
school  grading  ?    Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 

4.  Should  school  grades  be  according  to  mental  age 
or  physiological  age  or  neither  ?    Why  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Adolescence,  Hall,  Volume  II. 
The  High-School  Age,  King. 

Psychology  From  the  Standpoint  of  a  Behaviorist, 
Watson,  Chapter  V. 

^Studies  in  Child  Welfare,  Baldwin,   page  196. 

37 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

Bodily  Changes  in  Pain,  Hunger,  Fear,  and  Rage, 
Cannon. 

The  Psychology  of  Adolescence,  Tracy,  Chapter  III. 

The  Physical  Growth  of  Children  From  Birth  to 
Maturity,  Baldwin. 

Principles  of  Secondary  Education,  Monroe  (edi- 
tor), Chapter  VII  (by  Guy  Montrose  Whipple). 

Growth  and  Education,  Tyler. 

The  Glands  Regulating  Personality,  Herman. 

The  last-named  book  is  very  valuable  for  the  mass  of 
important  facts  presented.  Many  of  the  applications 
of  these  facts  are  warranted,  but  some  theories  may  be 
questioned. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  SEX  IN  EARLY 
ADOLESCENCE 

To  THE  superficial  observer  the  instinctive  tendencies 
involved  in  sex  seem  to  appear  quite  abruptly  with 
adolescence.  The  relatively  rapid  development,  at  this 
period,  of  the  reproductive  organs  and  the  appearance 
of  new  attitudes  toward  the  opposite  sex  make  this 
view  seem  very  natural.  But  the  sex  instincts  appear 
long  before  the  maturing  of  sex  functions.  In  fact, 
the  characteristics,  attitudes,  and  differences  of  sex 
appear  in  infancy  and  have  undergone  a  long  process 
of  development  before  adolescence  begins.  Observe 
the  differences  in  the  behavior  of  girls  and  boys,  even 
in  the  tomboy  age  of  the  ten-year-olds.  Notice,  for 
example,  the  schoolground  tendency  to  group  by  sex. 
While  it  is  possible  to  overestimate  these  differences, 
there  are  observable  comparisons  between  the  sexes 
throughout  life. 

THE  BROADER  CONCEPTION  OF  SEX  LIFE 

Sex  includes  much  more  than  the  impulses  leading  to 
physical  reproduction.  It  includes  the  ideals  and  senti- 
ments involved  in  the  attitudes  of  one  half  of  humanity 
toward  the  other.  The  characteristics  of  sex  are  the 
characteristics  of  humanity  in  so  far  as  there  are  native 
differences  in  body  or  mind  between  boys  and  girls 
and  men  and  women.  "The  normal  woman  is  essen- 

39 


PSYCHOLOGY   OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

tially  female  from  head  to  foot,  in  bearing  and  conduct, 
in  sentiment  and  expression,  in  feeling,  thought,  and 
action,  and  from  the  beginning  of  girlhood  -to  the  end 
of  life.  So,  also,  with  the  normal  man.  He  is  essen- 
tially and  vitally  male,  throughout  the  whole  range  of 
his  being/'1 

The  importance  of  sex. — The  impulses  of  sex  also 
appear  in  a  vast  number  of  ideals,  sentiments,  and 
emotional  attitudes  toward  nature,  art,  human  society, 
even  toward  God,  which  have  been  developed  through 
the  sublimation  of  the  more  primitive  sex  impulses. 
Include  with  the  sex  tendencies  the  parental  instinct, 
with  its  fundamental  relation  to  all  human  tenderness 
and  sympathy  for  the  weak  and  helpless,  and  we  have 
a  group  of  tendencies  that  have  largely  determined  the 
progress  of  human  history.  Without  the  tenderness  of 
husband  and  wife  and  the  unselfishness  of  father  and 
mother  it  is  doubtful  if  the  human  race  would  ever 
have  learned  the  lessons  of  social  amity  and  altruism, 
upon  which  our  civilization  is  built. 

NORMAL  SEX  RELATIONSHIPS  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

It  is  the  misfortune  of  many  who  are  dealing  with 
adolescent  boys  or  girls  that  they  lack  sympathy  with 
the  normal  positive  expression  of  the  impulses  of  sex. 
We  have  seen  so  many  abnormal,  unhealthy  develop- 
ments from  the  instincts  of  sex  that  we  often  assume 
a  negative  or  repressive  attitude.  Adolescent  boys  and 
girls  were  created  to  say  "yes"  to  life  rather  than  "no," 
and  it  is  important  that  we  place  before  them  the 

f The  Psychol-oyv  of  Adolescence,  Tracy,  page  134, 


SEX  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

wholesome  ideals  of  sex  life  that  will  develop  right  atti- 
tudes. 

Various  manifestations  of  sex. — Although  love,  in 
its  developed  form,  appears  normally  in  middle  or  later 
adolescence,  it  has  its  lesser  beginnings  in  the  sex  atti- 
tudes of  childhood  and  early  adolescence.  Interest  in 
the  opposite  sex  in  the  preadolescent  and  early  adoles- 
cent periods  appears  in  a  variety  of  forms. 

(a)  Apparent  sex-repulsion. — Nature  seems  to  have 
provided  a  protection  against  the  overstimulation  of 
the  developing  sex  functions  in  the  apparent  opposition 
and  incompatibility  of  the  sexes  at  this  time.     For 
some  time  before  puberty  the  boy  seems  to  feel  a 
natural  scorn  for  all  things  pertaining  to  girls  of  his 
own  age,  while  the  girl  is  just  as  vigorous  in  her 
apparent  dislike   of   boys.     This   attitude    is   not   a 
thorough  sex  opposition.     It  is  often  an  attitude  of 
defense   against   public   opinion   or   criticism.     It  is 
really  a  recognition  of  a  new  significance  in  sex,  and 
may  even  be  the  expression  in  this  inverted  form  of  a 
new  interest  in  the  opposite  sex. 

(b)  Positive  sex-attraction. — Even  while  he  seeks 
his  exclusively  male  gang  and  expresses  his  dislike  of 
girls  the  boy  is  awakening  to  a  new  interest  in  girls. 
While  assuming  an  attitude  of  scorn  toward  all  things 
feminine  he  may  try  in  various  ways,  by  gymnastic 
feats  or  even  by  teasing  or  other  rudeness,  to  gain 
the  attention  of  some  secretly  admired  girl.    To  de- 
scribe the  early  adolescent  attitude  as  exclusive  sex 
repulsion  is  to  interpret  too  simply  a  complex  of  normal 
social  attitudes. 

4* 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

(c)  Premature  love  affairs. — The  courtships  of 
early  adolescence  constitute  another  complicated  prob- 
lem of  interpretation.  Since  there  is  a  decided  element 
of  sex  attraction  even  in  this  period,  there  may  be  some 
elements  of  a  genuine  courtship  situation.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  of  these  childish  affairs  are  stimulated  by 
suggestions  from  older  persons,  from  a  natural  curi- 
osity concerning  sex,  and  from  a  natural  desire  to 
emulate  the  experiences  of  boys  and  girls  a  little 
older.  One  young  woman  recalls  the  following  expe- 
riences of  her  early  adolescence: 

I  found  here  that  my  natural  companions  and  friends 
were  much  more  grown  up  than  I  was.  They  "did 
their  hair  up,"  they  had  "beaux,"  they  were  infinitely 
"young  ladified,"  even  though  they  were  all  my  own 
age.  They  all  had  a  great  passion  for  "going  walking." 
They  would  start  out  about  six  thirty  in  the  evening 
and  walk  and  walk  until  it  grew  dark,  when  they  would 
meet  the  boys  of  their  choice.  I  wished  to  be  with 
them  and  I  always  envied  their  grown-up  ways  and 
their  ability  to  talk  to  people  of  all  sexes  and  ages.  I 
myself  was  very  shy,  and  it  was  hard  for  me  to  carry 
on  a  conversation.  I  had  a  great  fear,  however,  of 
being  left  out  of  things,  and  so  I  always  heroically 
endured  the  long  walks  for  fear  of  them  thinking  I 
was  not  a  "good  sport."  But  I  was  always  relieved 
when  Friday  came,  and  I  could  go  out  to  grandma's 
and  play  with  my  little  sister.  I  forgot  my  Latin  and 
algebra  then  and  joined  in  with  her  doll  playing  on  the 
back  porch. 

The  need  for  sympathy  and  understanding  on  the 
part  of  parents  and  teachers  is  clear.  Many  a  tragedy 
has  grown  out  of  the  heartlessness  and  ignorance  of 

42 


SEX  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

adolescent    life   that   either    stimulates    childish    love 
affairs  or  else  laughs  at  them. 

(d)  Rivalries  between  boys  and  girls. — One  phase 
of  the  typical  sex  attitude  of  this  period  is  the  frequent 
occurrence  of  rivalries  between  boys  and  girls  in  vari- 
ous activities.    The  boy  works  at  his  books  because  he 
dislikes  to  be  beaten  by  a  girl,  while  the  girl  is  just  as 
determined  to  show  her  prowess  in  any  sort  of  contest. 
This  spirit  of  rivalry  is  perhaps  encouraged  by  the  fact 
that  generally  in  early  adolescence  the  girl  is  physically 
the  equal  or  even  the  superior  of  the  boy.     She  can 
run  as  fast  or  strike  as  hard  a  blow  as  her  brother. 
The  situation  is  further  complicated  by  the  girl's  attain- 
ing the  pubertal  maturity  a  year  or  two  earlier  than 
the  boy  and  by  the  vague  turmoil  into  which  adoles- 
cence precipitates  them  both. 

(e)  Still  another  phase  of  the  sex  life  of  early 
adolescence  is  seen  in  certain  attitudes  of  boys  and 
girls  toward  older  persons.    Nothing  could  be  finer  or 
more  wholesome  than  these  admirations  and  devotions 
of  adolescents,  under  normal  conditions  involving  sym- 
pathetic and  helpful  adult  influences.    The  hero  or  the 
adoree  may  be  of  the  opposite  sex,  though  this  appears 
to  be  more  characteristic  of  middle  adolescence.    It  is 
probably  more  common  in  early  adolescence  to  be  de- 
voted to  an  older  person  of  one's  own  sex.    Especially 
with  girls,  but  also  in  some  degree  with  boys,  this  type 
of  devotion  partakes  of  the  nervous  and  emotional 
characteristics  of  a  sex  reaction.1    Unless  the  adoree  is 


M   Young  Girl's  Diary,  translated  by  Eden  and  Cedar  Paul,   pages  216 
and  278. 

43 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

a  sensible  and  high-minded  woman,  there  are  subtle 
dangers  in  this  type  of  adoration.  This  situation, 
which  is  not  uncommon,  implies  a  distinct  responsibility 
for  the  guidance  into  wholesome  channels  of  the  some- 
times tumultuous  emotions  of  adolescent  life.2 

ABNORMAL  ATTITUDES 

The  normal  development  of  the  sex  life  in  adoles- 
cence is  a  wholesome  and  beautiful  element  in  the  un- 
folding social  nature.  Its  abnormal  development  is 
repulsive.  But  there  are  serious  facts  which  must  be 
understood  by  those  who  teach  our  boys  and  girls.  It 
is  not  frequently  necessary  to  introduce  these  facts 
into  our  teaching,  but  we  must  know  them  in  order  to 
know  what  more  wholesome  teachings  and  attitudes 
are  needed  and  in  order  to  recognize  the  occasional 
need  for  words  of  admonition.  It  is  beyond  question 
that  a  large  proportion  of  sexual  immorality  begins 
even  before  the  adolescent  development  is  completed. 
The  majority  of  prostitutes,  for  example,  are  said  to 
enter  this  career  of  shame  between  the  ages  of  fifteen 
and  eighteen,3  and  probably  few  or  none  of  them 
actually  had  their  first  immoral  experiences  later  than 
fifteen.  The  observations  of  many  teachers  and  others 
associated  with  boys  or  girls  unite  in  the  general  con- 
clusion that  there  are  most  unwholesome  elements  in 
the  ideas  and  attitudes  of  a  large  proportion  of  adoles- 
cents with  regard  to  sex. 

3The  psychic  dangers  of  this  type  of  relationship  are  viTidly  shown 
in  Clemence  Dame's  novel,  Regiment  of  Women.  See  also  Girlhood  and 
Character,  Moxcey,  page  106  ff. 

9Adole9cenc6t  Hall,  Volume  I,   page  431. 

44 


SEX  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

The  source  of  these  evils. — These  adolescent  evils 
are  very  largely  the  result  of  ignorance,  parental 
neglect,  the  social  taboo  upon  the  discussion  of  sex, 
and  all  those  social  and  commercial  forces  which 
prey  upon  the  weak,  the  ignorant,  and  the  superstitious. 
But  the  basis  for  the  effect  of  all  these  influences  is 
in  certain  instinctive  tendencies  in  the  boys  and  girls 
themselves — tendencies  that  may  be  turned  into  use- 
ful channels  through  good  educational  methods,  but 
which  are  bound  to  express  themselves  in  some  form. 
Curiosity  is  a  native  tendency  appearing  even  in  in- 
fancy and  developing  through  childhood  and  adoles- 
cence. Curiosity  concerning  matters  of  sex  is  normally 
strong  in  early  adolescence ;  but  if  it  is  satisfied  with 
information,  wholesomely  and  sympathetically  given 
by  parents  or  other  adult  advisers,  it  need  occasion  no 
alarm. 

Sex  taboo. — With  curiosity  are  closely  associated 
other  tendencies,  such  as  the  inclination  to  be  inter- 
ested in  new  experiences,  in  secrets,  in  surreptitiously 
obtained  information.  Add  to  these  a  love  of  adven- 
ture and  the  actual  stress  of  the  adolescent  sex  im- 
pulses, and  unless  there  is  careful  guidance  and 
friendly  counsel,  the  perversions  of  the  sex  instinct  are 
well-nigh  inevitable.  Despite  the  responsibility  that 
this  common  situation  imposes  upon  parents  and  other 
guardians  of  young  life,  the  common  policy,  even  to- 
day, is  one  of  avoiding  the  discussion  of  sex  problems 
with  our  children.  This  is  one  of  our  most  serious 
educational  errors.  "The  assumption  that  ignorance 
of  self  as  an  animal  and  of  the  actual  functions  of  life 

45 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

will  be  a  protection  against  -the  vices  and  the  evils  of 
youth  and  maturity  is  the  most  threatening  theory  in 
the  practice  of  a  generally  prudent  civilization/*4 

Nervous  reactions. — Early  adolescence  is  normally 
a  state  of  emotional  susceptibility,  nervousness,  rest- 
lessness, and  excitement.  Even  under  wholesome  con- 
ditions new  information  concerning  sex  may  come  with 
a  certain  emotional  shock.  Under  unwholesome  influ- 
ences such  information  may  affect  the  nervous  balance 
quite  seriously.  A  thorough  study  of  several  cases  of 
hysteria  in  young  women  showed  that  in  nearly  every 
case  the  primary  disturbance  was  traceable  to  some 
nervous  shock  associated  with  sex  experiences  at  the 
time  of  puberty. 

CORRECTING  AND  PREVENTING  UNWHOLESOME 
ATTITUDES 

In  our  opposition  to  unwholesome  and  immoral  de- 
velopments we  have  the  assistance  of  nature.  Among 
the  merciful  provisions  for  this  period  are  characteris- 
tic tendencies  to  modesty,  shyness,  and  reticence.  The 
tendency  of  boys  and  girls  to  draw  apart  in  their  inter- 
ests and  in  their  social  groupings  is  a  part  of  this 
wholesome  provision  of  nature.  But  this  tendency  is 
not  all-corrective.  In  fact,  some  of  the  most  serious 
evils  arise  in  the  entire  separation  of  boys  and  girls 
in  boarding  schools.  We  can  cooperate  with  nature  in 
the  defense  of  our  boys  and  girls  in  several  ways : 

i.  We  may  lead  them  in  an  attitude  of  respect  for 

*Presldent  Homer  H.  Seerley  in  ao  address  giyen  at  Sioux  City,  Iowa, 
April  22,  1898. 

46 


SEX  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

nature.  Nature  love  is  very  closely  akin  to  religion. 
Nature  is  God  manifesting  himself  to  us  in  this  world. 
When  your  pupils  feel  the  dignity  in  nature  they  will 
recognize  the  divinity  in  the  natural  process  of  birth. 

2.  We  may  encourage  wholesome  activities  and  a 
healthy  outlook  upon  life.    You  may  never  have  occa- 
sion to  teach  your  pupils  sex  hygiene,  but  you  should 
direct  their  impulses,  many  of  which  are  reen forced  by 
the  irradiations  of  sex,  into  wholesome  channels  of 
idealistic  service. 

3.  We  may  appeal  to  the  noble  elements  of  chivalry 
in  boys  and  womanliness  in  girls.    It  is  easy  to  appeal 
to  these  idealizations  of  worthy  attitudes.    Boys  should 
have  before  them  the  examples  of  strong  men  who 
were  chivalrous  and  true  to  the  finest  ideals.     Girls 
should  have  before  them  the  examples  of  worthy  and 
noble  women,    The  ideal  heroes  and  heroines  for  early 
adolescence  are  not  ascetics  but  strong,  vigorous,  con- 
trolled personalities.     The  church-school  teacher  has 
a  splendid  opportunity  to  stimulate  a  worthy  idealism 
through  the  stories  of  the  noble  characters  in  the  Bible 
and  other  historical  literature. 

4.  We  may  encourage  a  normal  and  wholesomely 
environed  association  of  boys  and  girls.    The  normal 
home,  the  normal  church,   the  normal   school,   must 
contain  both.     And  their  social  program  should  in- 
clude not  only  parties   exclusively   for  one  sex  but 
parties  for  both,  in  which  we  may  utilize  those  social 
interests  which  they  hold  in  common.     Needless  to 
say,  we  should  not  emphasize  the  sex  relations,  which 
will  come  to  attention  soon  enough  in  middle  adoles- 

47 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

cence.  Among  the  common  faults  of  careless  people 
has  been  the  overstimulation  of  sex  interest  by  sug- 
gesting sweethearts  and  courtships  to  boys  and  girls 
who  should  be  good  friends,  with  no  more  thought  of 
sex  relationships  than  the  naturally  developing,  shy 
recognition  of  new  meanings  in  boyhood  and  girlhood. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  What  Bible  stories  are  most  wholesome  in  de- 
veloping worthy  sex  attitudes  in  early  adolescent  boys 
and  girls? 

2.  What  are  the  arguments  for  and  against  coedu- 
cation ? 

3.  Observe  and  record  the  attitudes  of  some  boy  or 
girl  of  12  to  14  toward  persons  of  the  same  age  but  of 
the  opposite  sex. 

4.  What  elements  of  value  in  developing  wholesome 
sex  life  can  you  find  in  the  Boy  Scouts  and  the  Camp 
Fire  Girls? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  Boy  and  the  Sunday  School,  Alexander,  Chapter 
XV. 
A  Social  Theory  of  Religious  Education,  Coe,  page 

157  ff- 

The  Psychology  of  Religion,  Coe,  page  150, 

Girlhood  and  Character,  Moxcey,  Chapter  VI  and 
pages  64,  65,  249,  250. 

The  Psychology  of  Adolescence,  Tracy,  Chapter  X. 

Seven  Ages  of  Childhood,  Cabot,  page  249. 

The  High-School  Age,  King,  page  69. 

Principles  of  Secondary  Education,  Inglis,  Chapter 
.XI. 

Sex  Education,  Bigelow. 

Sex  for  Parents  and  Teachers,  Stowell. 

48 


CHAPTER  V 

INTELLECTUAL  PHASES  OF  EARLY 
ADOLESCENCE 

THERE  are  two  theories  of  adolescent  development: 
the  saltatory  theory,  according  to  which  the  boy  or  girl 
attains  the  adolescent  changes  by  a  sudden  forward 
leap,  and  the  theory  of  gradual  development.  The 
preceding  chapters  have  indicated  that  the  author's 
position  is  between  the  extremes  of  these  theories. 
Adolescent  development  involves  relatively  rapid 
changes,  which  are,  however,  part  of  a  gradual  growth 
and  which  cannot  be  understood  without  the  back- 
ground of  earlier  development.  Some  who  have  held 
an  extreme  form  of  the  saltatory  theory  have  con- 
sidered reason  a  distinctly  new  development  in  adoles- 
cence. The  reasoning  functions,  however,  have  had 
an  extended  development  before  assuming  the  more 
distinct  form  in  which  they  appear  in  adolescence. 
Even  in  infancy  -there  are  inferences  that,  though  often 
fallacious,  are'based  upon  implicit  judgments.  And  the 
power  of  thought,  of  abstraction  and  analysis  and 
classification  and  generalization,  grows  throughout 
childhood. 

THE  NEW  EMPHASIS  UPON  REASON 

Coming  into  prominence  in  early  adolescence  is  a 
distinct  consciousness  of  one's  ability  to  solve  prob- 

49 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

lems  and  a  growing  insistence  upon  submitting  all 
things  to  the  test  of  one's  own  reason.  This  is  part 
of  the  general  feeling  of  self-confidence  and  self-re- 
gard, which  is  now  attaining  a  prominent  place.  A 
tendency  to  insist  upon  one's  own  judgment  and  rea- 
son increases  throughout  early  and  middle  adolescence. 
In  childhood  many  things  were  accepted  upon  the 
authoritative  statements  of  parents  or  teacher,  but 
in  adolescence  all  authority  may  be  questioned  and 
criticized.  Childhood  was  generally  marked  by  un- 
questioning belief  and  acceptance  of  what  was  said  by 
parent  or  teacher  or  Bible  or  textbook,  but  adolescence 
is  an  age  of  doubt.  Many  parents  and  teachers  are 
disturbed  by  this  natural  appearance  of  a  tendency 
to  question  matters  that  are  accepted  implicitly  by  chil- 
dren and  considered  authoritative  by  adults.  There 
is,  however,  a  providence  in  this  adolescent  trait.  Were 
it  not  for  the  adolescent  tendency  to  criticize  and  doubt, 
all  would  come  to  adulthood  with  a  fixed  confidence 
in  prevailing  conditions  and  beliefs,  and  progress 
would  be  impossible. 

RELIGIOUS  DOUBTS 

A  skeptical  attitude  toward  religious  ideas  is  more 
characteristic  of  later  periods,  but  one  can  find  its 
beginnings  in  early  adolescence.  Teachers  should  not 
be  overalarmed  at  this,  but  should  be  ready  to  meet 
it  in  an  attitude  of  fairness  and  reason.  The  religious 
attitudes  and  feelings,  developed  and  encouraged  in  a 
wholesome  social  atmosphere  in  childhood,  will  have 
their  effect  in  the  transition  time  of  adolescence.  In- 

50 


INTELLECTUAL  PHASES 

telligent  and  sympathetic  guidance  is  very  important, 
however,  in  the  perplexing  period  when  the  founda- 
tions of  belief  seem  to  be  crumbling.  Dogmatism  will 
not  do,  nor  an  appeal  to  prejudice  or  precedent.  The 
teacher  must  himself  see  clearly  the  fundamental  truths 
that  can  be  shown  to  be  reasonable,  must  be  sym- 
pathetic, and  must  be  patient  with  the  intellectual  per- 
versities of  this  transition  period. 

AN  IMPERFECTLY  ORGANIZED  INTELLIGENCE 

The  mind  of  early  adolescence  still  has  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  child  mind  while  it  is  discover- 
ing some  of  the  modes  of  adult  thinking.  It  often 
shifts  from  one  type  of  thought  to  another.  It  insists 
upon  reasons  that  are  themselves  prejudices.  It  places 
an  adult  conception  upon  a  background  of  childish  con- 
ceptions and  is  constantly  bewildered  in  the  attempt 
to  harmonize  what  it  has  discovered  of  the  world  of 
adult  life  with  its  vital  memories  of  the  child  world. 

INTELLECTUAL  AWAKENINGS 

The  relatively  sudden  development  of  a  new  inter- 
est, while  more  common  in  middle  adolescence,  is  not 
infrequent  in  the  earlier  period.  The  boy  or  girl  who 
has  been  indifferent  to  school  work  gets  a  new  enthu- 
siasm for  it.  Those  who  have  found  a  certain  study  a 
drudgery  get  a  new  insight  into  it  and  become  deeply 
interested  in  it.  Concepts  meaningless  to  childhood 
acquire  significance  in  adolescence.  The  size  and  shape 
of  th£  earth,  though  often  presented  at  the  beginning 

51 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

of  geography  textbooks,  is  not  interesting  to  children 
because  it  is  hardly  conceivable.  A  child  will  accept 
the  statements  and  memorize  them,  but  is  not  able  to 
image  such  a  vast  sphere  as  our  earth.  In  adoles- 
cence the  mind  and  its  concepts  undergo  expansion. 
Now  the  mind  that  once  thought  of  the  moon  as  near 
the  treetops  can  begin  to  grasp  its  location  in  space 
and  becomes  interested  in  facts  of  astronomy  and 
mathematics  hitherto  incomprehensible. 

IMAGINATION 

Imagination  has  a  long  history  before  adolescence. 
It  begins  even  in  infancy,  grows  rapidly  throughout 
the  fairy-tale  period  of  early  childhood,  grows  still 
more  in  the  vigorous  boy  and  girl  days  from  seven  to 
twelve,  and  then  bursts  into  a  characteristic  bloom  in 
early  adolescence.  Early  childhood  is  the  "let's  play" 
period,  which  Mrs.  Cabot  calls  the  dramatic  age.  Later 
childhood  is  the  time  when  the  child  begins  to  desert 
the  fairy  world  because  the  real  world  is  more  inter- 
esting, when  a  craving  for  facts  about  the  world  de- 
velops, when  stories  of  real  life,  hero  tales,  adventure 
tales,  biography,  nature  lore,  thrill  the  soul.  The 
glamour  of  fairyland  is  not  needed  now.  The  world 
is  a  fairyland,  the  next  town  is  a  delightful  mystery, 
all  the  world  is  full  of  the  glory  of  life.  What  more 
can  adolescence  do?  It  throws  over  the  world  a  new 
glamour  through  a  new  appreciation  of  /the  meaning  of 
the  world  and  nature  and  human  society.  It  is  the 
age  of  a  new  insight,  when  nature  and  art  acquire  a 
deeper  and  more  intimate  significance,  when  one's  re- 

52 


INTELLECTUAL  PHASES 

lation  to  society  is  felt  with  unique  keenness,  when  new 
attention  is  given  to  moral  values,  and  when  religion 
attains  a  deeper  personal  meaning.  The  fairyland  of 
childhood  has  faded,  leaving  sometimes  a  sense  of 
regretful  disillusionment;  the  world  of  later  childhood 
has  lost  much  of  its  mysterious  charm;  and  then  the 
rosy  glow  of  awakening  romance  colors  all  things, 
while  it  throws  the  newly  discovered  valleys  into 
deeper  shadow. 

Daydreams. — -Early  adolescence  is  only  the  first 
stage  in  the  development  described  above.  It  is  marked 
by  an  exuberant  imagination  that  is  not  yet  under 
thorough  control.  The  mind  is  awakening  to  a  deeper 
intuition  into  the  meanings  of  things  and  has  not  yet 
learned  to  check  up  this  insight  by  the  regulations  of 
reason.  The  years  of  middle  and  later  adolescence 
gradually  develop  the  sober  consideration  that  de- 
stroys some  adolescent  air  castles  and  puts  others  on 
firmer  foundations.  Early  adolescence  is  the  period 
of  daydreams  and  vaguely  extravagant  imaginings  and 
hence  is  peculiarly  exasperating  to  the  unsympathetic 
adult  whose  youthful  visions  have  long  faded.  The 
boy  or  girl  who  goes  through  the  day  indolently  and 
absent-mindedly  may  be  lost  in  a  maze  of  daydreams. 
Of  course,  we  must  recall  such  a  one  to  the  realities 
and  problems  of  life,  but  it  should  be  done  with  sym- 
pathy and. understanding.  Many  boys  and  girls,  hav- 
ing been  harshly  treated,  their  youthful  ideals  meeting 
no  sympathetic  response  from  older  people,  have  built 
up  a  wall  of  defensive  reserve  and  behind  this  have  ; 
lived  a  dream  life  quite  isolated  from  the  prosaic  expe- 

53 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

riences  of  every  day.     One  young  woman  thus  de- 
scribes an  experience  of  this  kind : 

When  about  thirteen  I  had  succeeded  in  building  up 
an  " indifferent''  exterior,  which  concealed  my  bashful- 
ness  within.  People  said  I  was  remarkably  dignified 
and  reserved.  .  .  .  But  in  my  imagination  I  was 
a  butterfly  of  fashion.  I  held  whole  roomfuls  charmed 
by  my  wit  and  vivacity.  ...  A  decided  snub  from 
the  real  world  of  envious  or  disgusted  schoolmates 
would  'tear  down  my  "rainbow  gleams"  and  cast  me 
into  the  deepest  despair.  Often  I  wondered  if  I 
wouldn't  be  far  happier  if  I  killed  myself  and  saved 
future  trouble.  Soon,  however,  my  common  sense 
would  come  to  my  rescue,  and  I  would  console  myself 
by  another  daydream. 

SUGGESTIBILITY 

G.  Stanley  Hall,  in  his  monumental  work,  "Adoles- 
cence," says  two  things  -that  seem  at  first  sight  incon- 
sistent. In  one  place  he  says:  "The  youth  who  has 
been  amenable  to  advice  and  even  suggestion  now  be- 
comes obstreperous,  recalcitrant,  filled  with  a  spirit  of 
opposition,  and  cannot  repress  a  toplofty  superiority  to 
the  ways  and  persons  of  his  environment." 

In  another  place  he  says  of  youth :  "It  is  plastic  to 
every  suggestion,  tends  to  do  everything  that  comes 
into  the  head,  to  instantly  carry  out  every  impulse; 
loves  nothing  more  than  abandon,  and  hates  nothing  so 
much  as  restraint.  It  is  the  age  that  can  withstand  no 
dare  or  stump;  loves  adventure  and  escapade;  tends 
to  let  every  faculty  go  to  its  uttermost." 

An  apparent  paradox. — These  statements,  one  of 
54 


INTELLECTUAL  PHASES 

which  seems  -to  affirm,  the  other  to  deny  the  sug- 
gestibility of  adolescence,  are  in  reality  in  harmony. 
The  adolescent  boy  or  girl  is  highly  suggestible,  but 
sometimes  the  suggestion  from  parent  or  teacher  is  met 
by  a  stronger  suggestion  from  some  other  source. 
Young  people  are  frequently  autosuggestible  or  coun- 
tersuggestible,  especially  with  reference  to  direct  sug- 
gestion. The  skillful  teacher  will,  as  far  as  possible, 
avoid  direct  suggestion.  When  you  say,  "John,  close 
the  door,"  John  may  do  so,  but  not  very  willingly.  He 
does  not  like  to  be  so  addressed.  If  you  say,  "John, 
isn't  it  rather  warm  in  this  room?"  John  is  likely  to 
respond  more  graciously.  Suppose  you  wish  your  class 
to  dramatize  the  story  of  Ruth.  You  say :  "Mary,  take 
the  part  of  Naomi.  Be  sure  to  have  it  learned  by  next 
Sunday."  If  Mary  appears  at  all  she  is  more  likely 
to  do  her  part  grudgingly  and  listlessly  than  if  you  had 
said:  "Who  can  take  the  part  of  Naomi?  Mary,  I 
am  sure  you  can  do  that  well."  Thoughtful  attention 
to  the  problem  of  indirect  suggestion  will  save  the 
teacher  many  difficulties.  The  most  forceful  sug- 
gestions you  can  make  for  the  development  of  courtesy 
and  character  to  young  people  are  in  your  own  habits 
and  example.  No  amount  of  admonition  to  dress 
neatly  will  be  so  effective  as  your  own  personal  ap- 
pearance; no  number  of  lectures  on  moral  acts  and 
attitudes  will  have  such  suggestion  value  as  your  own 
acts  and  attitudes.  And  you  can  so  plan  as  definitely  to 
lead  the  minds  of  your  students  through  indirect  sug- 
gestion by  consulting  rather  than  ordering.  It  is  not  an 
easy  task  to  be  a  teacher  of  adolescent  boys  and  girls. 

55 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

It  is  easy  to  be  a  boss ;  it  requires  initiative  and  char- 
acter to  be  a  leader. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Why  should  the  junior  high  school  be  separate 
from  the  senior  high  school? 

2.  At  what  age  does   interest   in   debating  begin? 
How  do  the  arguments  of  a  high-school  debate  differ 
from  those  in  the  debates  of  adults  ? 

3.  Recall   your    adolescent    daydreams.      Can    you 
remember  any  development  in  them?    How  did  they 
differ  from  those  of  to-day? 

4.  Recall  the  teachers  who  influenced  you  in  early 
adolescence.    Can  you  explain  their  influence? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Adolescence,  Hall,  Volume  II,  Chapter  XVI. 
The  High-School  Age,  King,  Chapter  IX. 
The  Psychology   of  Adolescence,   Tracy,   Chapter 
VII. 

The  Seven  Ages  of  Childhood,  Cabot,  Book  Four. 
Principles  of  Secondary  Education,  Inglis,  Chapter 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  LIFE  OF 
FEELING 

IT  is  doubtless  true  that  psychology  is  the  most  com- 
plex of  sciences.  The  old,  conception  of  the  mind  as 
divisible  into  certain  parts,  each  of  which  has  its 
separate  function  or  "faculty,"  is  now  abandoned. 
Psychology,  according  to  that  theory,  was  relatively 
simple ;  but  now  we  are  learning  that  there  is  no  such 
simple  separation  between  mental  functions.  Memory, 
for  example,  is  not  an  isolated  mental  power  but  a 
phase  or  attribute  of  the  whole  mind  and  the  bodily 
functions  that  condition  the  mind.  Sensation  was 
formerly  separated  distinctly  from  affection,  the  basic 
element  in  feeling  and  emotion,  and  we  are  now  dis- 
covering that  'these  two  so-called  elements  are  not  only 
closely  interwoven  with  one  another,  but  are  in  reality 
of  the  same  nature  psychologically.  Feeling  is  con- 
ditioned by  the  stimulation  of  a  complex  of  nerve 
endings,  sometimes  widely  separated  from  one  another, 
which  are  not  so  localized  as  to  give  the  relatively  clear 
reactions  of  sensation.  Great  numbers  of  such  nerve 
endings  are  in  the  chest  and  abdomen,  and  in  the  more 
vigorous  feeling  reactions  we  can  recognize  feelings  of 
depression  or  buoyancy  or  relaxation  or  expansion  in 
these  parts  of  the  body. 

57 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

THE  REASONS  FOR  THE  NERVOUS  INSTABILITY  OF 
ADOLESCENCE 

With  the  general  bodily  changes  of  adolescence  and 
a  considerable  extension  and  sensitization  of  the  nerv- 
ous system  the  feeling  life  of  youth  is  exceedingly  com- 
plex and  variable.  The  various  glands  of  the  body,  in- 
cluding the  ductless  glands,  which  have  a  very  direct 
influence  upon  feeling  states,  are  undergoing  rapid 
development,  the  whole  bodily  constitution  is  expe- 
riencing a  variety  of  shifts  and  changes  that  demand 
readjustment,  and  the  feelings  and  emotions  are 
normally  relatively  unstable  and  shifting. 

The  foregoing  discussion  of  the  physiology  of  feel- 
ing gives  the  clue  to  many  of  the  adolescent  reactions 
that  perplex  the  more  completely  organized  mind  of 
the  adult.  The  boy  or  girl  has  frequent  changes  of 
mood.  Cheerfulness  and  melancholy,  good  temper  and 
ill  temper,  and  many  other  contradictory  impulses 
puzzle  us  with  their  alternations.  In  many  cases  the 
adolescent  is  a  puzzle  even  to  himself.  He  has  mysteri- 
ous impulses  whose  origin  he  cannot  trace;  he  has 
vague  impulses  whose  nature  he  cannot  understand. 
A  college  student,  recalling  her  high-school  years,  says : 
"Whenever  I  think  of  my  life  in  the  teens  I  am  re- 
minded of  the  meadow  across  the  road  from  my  old 
home  as  it  appeared  on  one  of  those  whimsical  days 
in  March  when  bright  sunshine  and  chilly,  rainy 
shadows,  like  tidal  waves,  flowed  over  it." 

CONTRADICTORY  CHARACTERS 
The  presence  in  the  same  personality  of  contra- 
58 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  LIFE  OF  FEELING 

dictory  characters  or  differing  and  apparently  incom- 
patible impulses  is  not  an  evidence  of  mental  weakness 
or  inferiority.  Indeed,  it  may  be  maintained  that  the 
really  great  personality  is  invariably  possessed  of  such 
contradictory  impulses  in  unusual  degree.  Thus 
Luther  was  at  times  and  sometimes  almost  simultane- 
ously possessed  by  joy  and  depression,  assurance  and 
despair,  courage  and  fear,  self-reliance  and  self- 
abnegation,  sympathy  and  hatred,  superstition  and 
"hard-headedness."1  Perhaps  the  greatest  number  of 
such  opposing  characters  are  found  in  the  life  of  Jesus, 
whose  impulses  were  strong  and  vigorous  and  were 
held  in  the  marvelous  balance  and  restraint  that  mark 
his  majtchless  life. 

Such  opposition  of  impulses  appears  normally  in 
adolescence  with  relatively  little  of  the  inhibition,  the 
voluntary  or  habitual  restraint,  which  limits  and  con- 
ceals the  tendencies  of  adults.  It  must  be  remembered, 
also,  that  early  adolescence  lies  close  to  childhood  and 
still  retains  many  of  the  characteristics  of  childhood 
even  while  developing  the  contrasting  characteristics 
of  adult  life.  Life  is  a  seething  mixture  of  childish 
impulses  and  adultlike  traits,  of  vague  and  mysterious 
impulses,  of  various  tendencies  not  yet  regulated  and 
reduced  to  order  and  harmony.  To  know  this  element 
of  variation  in  the  nature  of  adolescence  is  of  the 
highest  importance  for  a  teacher.  Many  a  teacher  is 
discouraged  because  a  boy's  behavior  is  so  inconsistent 
or  because  a  girl  is  so  subject  to  changes  of  mood. 
One  element  in  understanding  adolescent  boys  and  girls 

*P*1/ckologic<il  Studies  in  Lutheranism,  Heisey,  page  88  t. 

59 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

is  the  realization  that  their  behavior  cannot  be  alto- 
gether understood  even  by  themselves.  They  are  atten- 
tive one  Sunday  and  inattentive  the  next.  Now  they 
are  your  caustic  critics  and  now  they  are  loyal  friends. 
Now  they  are  enthusiastic  workers  and  now  they 
neglect  every  responsibility.  If  we  judge  them  by 
adult  standards  we  shall  find  them  an  inexplicable 
problem;  but  if  we  realize  that  it  is  their  nature  to 
be  changeable,  if  we  are  hopeful  and  sympathetic 
and  ready  to  join  in  a  frequent  bit  of  wholesome  fun, 
and  if  we  develop  tact  in  responding  helpfully  to  each 
unexpected  new  phase  of  adolescent  life,  we  may 
render  them  very  important  service. 

JOY  AND  MELANCHOLY 

Perhaps  the  chief  difference  between  early  and 
middle  adolescence  with  regard  to  these  contradictory 
impulses  is  that  in  early  adolescence  the  impulses  are 
more  vaguely  felt  and  less  clearly  differentiated,  while 
in  middle  adolescence  their  opposition  is  more  keenly 
appreciated.  The  violent  stress  and  strain  of  conver- 
sion crises  is  more  likely  to  occur  in  middle  adolescence 
and  should  not  usually  be  expected  in  early  adolescence. 
In  early  adolescence  the  alternation  of  sulky,  sullen 
hours  with  periods  of  joy  is  characteristic.  In  middle 
and  later  adolescence  there  is  a  more  settled  melancholy 
which  may  alternate  with  wild  hilarity.  The  first  pub- 
lished writings  of  many  of  our  notable  poets  were 
written  in  middle  or  later  adolescence,  and  a  spirit  of 
melancholy  is  quite  characteristic  of  them.  Bryant's 
Thanatopsis,  written  at  eighteen,  is  a  case  in  point. 

60 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  LIFE  OF  FEELING 

POSITIVE  AND  NEGATIVE  SELF-FEELING 

Early  adolescence  begins  a  period  of  self-discovery, 
when  the  boy  or  girl  makes  a  revaluation  of  self.  In 
childhood  one  was  part  of  a  family  or  a  school,with 
little  feeling  of  independence.  Now,  although  a  period 
of  broadening  social  interest  is  beginning,  the  dignity, 
the  importance,  and  the  new  powers  of  the  individual 
self  are  becoming  prominent  in  consciousness.  The 
new  growth  and  strength,  physical  and  mental,  are 
exaggerated  in  the  imagination.  There  are  feelings  of 
superiority  and  a  pride  in  strength  that  may  seem 
ludicrous  to  the  unsympathetic  adult.  Naturally  an 
overestimation  of  one's  powers  leads  to  disappointing 
experiences,  and  then  comes  self-condemnation,  often 
bitter  and  acute.  The  boy  or  girl  in  the  grip  of  these 
contradictory  impulses  should  have  the  full  sympathy 
of  parents  and  teachers.  There  is  high  joy  in  personal 
attainments,  and  there  may  be  merciless  self-castiga- 
tion  when  one  fails  or  makes  an  awkward  blunder. 
Mary  Antin,  after  describing  a  social  blunder  made  in 
the  embarrassment  of  a  triumphant  grammar-school 
graduation  says :  "With  all  my  talent  for  self-analysis 
it  took  me  a  long  time  to  realize  the  essential  pettiness 
of  my  trouble.  For  years — actually  for  years — after 
that  eventful  day  of  mingled  triumph  and  disgrace  I 
could  not  think  of  the  unhappy  incident  without  in- 
ward sauirming." 

VIOLENT  EMOTIONS  AND  STOLIDITY 
Feeling    itself    misunderstood    and    unappreciated, 
adolescence  frequently  barricades  itself  behind  an  ex- 

61 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

terior  of  apparent  indifference  and  even  stolidity.  Such 
a  case  was  described  in  Chapter  IV.  Teachers  may  be 
deceived  by  this  reserved  attitude  into  believing  the  boy 
and  girl  really  unfriendly  and  indifferent  to  the  opin- 
ions or  attitudes  of  others.  But  this  is  another  example 
of  the  opposition  of  impulses.  A  sympathetic  sug- 
gestion, a  friendly  word  or  act,  a  sincere  interest  in 
such  a  boy  or  girl,  may  break  down  the  barrier,  and  a 
torrent  of  emotion  may  ensue.  Childhood  shows  fre- 
quent emotions,  which  are  very  real  but  transitory  and 
only  slightly  inhibited.  Adolescence  does  not  yield  so 
readily  to  emotional  expression,  probably  because  it  is 
afraid  of  its  power;  but  when  the  inhibitions  are  once 
removed,  it  will  be  discovered  that  adolescence  is  highly 
emotional  and  capable  of  depths  of  feeling  unknown 
to  childhood. 

STORM  AND  STRESS 

The  opposing  forces  in  the  adolescent  personality 
frequently  appear  in  acute  experiences  of  inner  strain 
and  tension,  when  the  boy  or  girl  is  tortured  by  oppos- 
ing ideals  and  impulses.  An  inner  conflict  between 
the  forces  of  good  and  of  evil,  between  an  ideal  life 
and  inharmonious  impulses,  is  not  infrequent.  The 
chapters  on  the  moral  and  religious  life  will  discuss 
this  more  fully.  In  such  experiences  the  need  of  ado- 
lescence is  for  teachers  who  understand  and  sympathize 
and  are  ready  to  lend  counsel  and  encouragement  with- 
out violating  the  delicate  sense  of  reserve  which  youth 
feels  in  his  hours  of  inner  strife.  By  suggestion 
and  tact  we  can  often  modify  a  situation  that  would 

6* 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  LIFE  OF  FEELING 

otherwise  involve  an  undesirable  emotional  reaction. 
Two  pupils  come  in,  apparently  on  the  verge  of  a  quar- 
rel. Any  admonition  that  would  further  attract  their 
attention  to  one  another  is  probably  unwise,  but  by 
diverting  their  attention  in  some  other  direction  the 
teacher  may  avert  an  undesirable  emotion  that  will  be 
still  further  obviated  by  time. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Recall  and  describe  the  more   vivid  emotional 
experiences  that  you  recall  from  your  own  early  ado- 
lescence. 

2.  Make  a  study  of  some  one  of  your  pupils  involv- 
ing the  traits  discussed  in  this  chapter. 

3.  Make  a  list  of  the  "contradictory  characters"  in 
the  life  of  some  great  religious  leader. 

4.  Make  a  study  of  the  early  writings  of  various 
poets  and  see  if  you  can  discover  in  them  the  adoles- 
cent melancholy  described  in  the  chapter. 

5.  Find  examples  in  biography  of  the  characteristics 
discussed  in  this  chapter. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  Psychology  of  Religion,  Starbuck,  Chapter  III. 

Life  in  the  Making,  Barclay  and  others,  Chapter 
.X.11. 

Girlhood  and  Character,  Moxcey,  Chapters  IV  and 
V. 

The  Psychology  of  Adolescence,  Tracy,  Chapter  VI. 


CHAPTER  VII 
ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

EARLY  adolescence  begins  a  period  of  nervous  and 
emotional  instability.  Adolescence  is  an  age  of  what 
G.  Stanley  Hall  calls  "natural  inebriation."  It  is  an 
age  of  excitement,  of  high  enthusiasms,  of  increasingly 
fervid  emotional  states.  Many  Sunday-school  teachers 
are  perplexed  and  distressed  at  the  behavior  of  pupils 
of  this  age.  We  are  often  exasperated  by  the  be- 
havior of  normal  boys  and  girls  and  we  are  still  more 
troubled  when  a  pupil  develops  some  abnormal  tend- 
ency and  is  "queer"  or  "bad"  because  of  some  physical 
or  mental  defect.  It  is  a  serious  fault  in  a  teacher 
constantly  to  suspect  his  problematic  pupils  of  abnor- 
malities, but  it  is  well  for  us  to  know  that  some  pupils 
who  make  us  trouble  should  perhaps  be  given  great 
sympathy  rather  than  blame. 

The  relatively  rapid  development  of  the  body,  in- 
cluding the  nervous  system  and  the  glands  intimately 
related  to  nervous  and  emotional  reactions,  has  been 
described  in  Chapter  III.  Under  the  influence  of  all 
the  stimulations  and  impulses  involved  in  this  phase 
of  growth,  early  adolescence  is  naturally  a  period  of 
emotional  ferment,  of  unstable  nervous  equilibrium. 
There  is  a  peculiar  liability  to  nervous  and  mental 
abnormalities  at  this  time.  Hereditary  defects  that 
have  been  latent  throughout  childhood  frequently  ap- 


ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

pear  in  early  adolescence,  and  there  is  in  early  and 
middle  adolescence  a  special  tendency  for  any  hidden 
abnormalities  to  reveal  themselves. 

HEREDITARY  DEFECTS 

The  chief  hereditary  defect  is  feeble-mindedness. 
The  definition  of  feeble-mindedness  adopted  by  the 
English  Royal  Commission  on  Mental  Deficiency  is 
substantially  as  follows : 

"A  feeble-minded  person  is  one  who  is  incapable,  be- 
cause of  mental  defect  existing  from  birth  or  from  an 
early  age,  (a)  of  competing  on  equal  terms  with  his 
normal  fellows;  or  (fe)  of  managing  himself  or  his 
affairs  with  ordinary  prudence!'  The  term  is  quite 
commonly  confined  to  those  with  a  mentality  above 
that  of  imbeciles,  and  the  term  "moron"  is  frequently 
used  to  designate  a  person  of  the  higher  degrees  of 
feeble-mindedness.  Feeble-mindedness  can  usually  be 
detected  early  in  childhood,  but  it  becomes  especially 
evident  in  early  adolescence.  "At  the  age  when  the 
normal  child  is  forging  ahead  most  rapidly,  when  he 
is  experiencing  an  intensification  of  all  processes  of 
life,  the  defective  child  is  dropping  behind  all  the  more 
rapidly."1 

There  are  certain  so-called  accidental  causes  of 
feeble-mindedness  which  may  occur  in  childhood,  but 
the  cases  of  hereditary  feeble-mindedness  are  much 
more  numerous.  The  studies  and  discoveries  of  the 
last  few  years  indicate  that  in  a  high  percentage  of 
cases  feeble-minded  children  come  from  feeble-minded 

lThe  High- School  Age,  King,  page  57. 

65 


PSYCHOLOGY   OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

parents  or  show  such  taint  in  their  remoter  ancestry. 
And  the  laws  of  heredity  are  such  that  the  marriage  of 
feeble-minded  persons  may  be  quite  confidently  ex- 
pected to  lead  to  feeble-mindedness  in  their  progeny. 
A  very  large  proportion  of  our  crime  and  of  our  eco- 
nomic incapacity  is  due  to  the  propagation  of  feeble- 
mindedness. 

PREVENTABLE  DEFECTS 

We  should  know  something  of  the  symptoms  and 
significance  of  feeble-mindedness  and  other  hereditary 
defects,  for  we  owe  to  such  whatever  care  we  can  give 
them;  but  our  chief  concern  as  teachers  is  with  those 
defects  which  are  preventable  or  curable,  especially 
with  those  which  represent  not  a  subnormal  mentality 
but  a  poorly  balanced  nervous  system.  There  are  wide 
variations  in  the  nervous  conditions  of  our  boys  and 
girls.  All  are  in  some  degree  predisposed  to  nervous- 
ness in  early  adolescence,  but  in  some  there  is  a  serious 
degree  of  this  predisposition.  It  may  be  the  result 
of  fright  in  childhood  or  later,  of  glandular  abnor- 
malities, of  irregular  habits  of  eating,  sleep,  etc.,  or, 
in  many  instances,  of  unregulated  and  ignorant  atti- 
tudes toward  the  sex  functions.  Mosso,  the  Italian 
physiologist,  says :  "Every  ugly  thing  told  to  a  child, 
every  shock,  every  fright  given  him,  will  remain  like 
a  minute  splinter  in  the  flesh  to  torture  him  all  his 
life  long/1  These  psychic  shocks  are  often  forgotten, 
so  far  as  consciousness  is  concerned,  but  are  subcon- 
sciously retained.  They  are  often  serious  predisposing 
causes  to  mental  abnormalities,  which  frequently  appear 

66 


ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

in  accentuated  form  early  in  adolescence.  The  expe- 
rience of  psychiatrists  seems  to  prove  that  the  best 
treatment  for  such  hidden  mental  and  nervous  sore 
spots  is  to  bring  them  as  far  as  possible  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  afflicted  person,  make  clear  what  was 
the  nature  of  the  original  shock,  and  help  him  get  a 
wholesome  understanding  of  the  possibility  of  adjust- 
ing himself  to  the  newly  understood  situation. 

THE  SUBCONSCIOUS 

The  importance  of  a  good  environment  during  child- 
hood and  adolescence  is  clear  when  we  understand  how 
susceptible  to  influence  the  unconscious  or  subcon- 
scious part  of  the  mind  is.  Only  a  small  part  of  the 
content  of  the  mind  is  in  our  consciousness  at  any  one 
time.  This  is  illustrated  in  Figure  i,  in  which  the  large 
triangle  represents  the  mind,  only  the  very  apex 
emerging  from  the  subconscious  mass,  like  the  part  of 
an  iceberg  above  the  waterline,  as  consciousness.  The 
line  between  consciousness  and  the  subconscious  is  not 
a  fixed  one  but  is  constantly  changing.  Many  things 
are  held  in  the  upper  levels  of  the  subconscious.  Thus, 
a  moment  ago  the  date  of  Columbus'  discovery  of 
America  was  not  in  my  consciousness,  but  I  have 
readily  brought  it  into  consciousness.  My  dream  of 
last  night  also  comes  very  readily  into  my  conscious- 
ness. These  cases  are  represented  by  the  line  "a"  in 
the  figure.  Line  "b"  represents  those  mental  contents 
which  may  be  with  difficulty  brought  into  clear  aware- 
ness. There  are  many  difficult  recollections  of  this 
nature.  Many  things  are  stored  in  these  deep  levels 

67 


PSYCHOLOGY   OF   EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

of  memory  which  can  be  brought  to  light  only  through 
unusual  associations  of  ideas,  unusual  types  of  sug- 
gestion, or  even  through  hypnotism.  Such  are  many  of 


ISCIOUSNESS 


B 


THE  SUBCONSCIOUS 


the  disturbing  memories  of  child  experiences  of  which 
one  is  not  usually  directly  conscious.  Line  "c"  repre- 
sents a  mass  of  impressions  and  unconscious  memories 
which  never  come  into  consciousness  at  all.  Its  con- 
tinuation in  the  dotted  line,  however,  is  intended  to 

68 


ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

indicate  that  even  such  mental  elements  have  their 
effect  upon  consciousness.  An  entirely  hidden  mental 
experience  may  be  a  disturbing  factor  affecting  one's 
whole  life.  And  we  are  justified  in  believing  that  every 
experience  we  have  ever  had,  conscious  or  unconscious, 
has  made  its  contribution  to  the  nature  of  our  present 
mental  life.  Early  adolescence  is  a  very  impressionable 
period.  The  experience  of  these  days,  the  words 
heard,  the  acts  witnessed,  will  have  large  influence  upon 
the  future  of  our  boys  and  girls. 

WHY  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  SUBCONSCIOUS  Is  NEEDED 

A  knowledge  of  the  relation  of  the  subconscious  to 
consciousness  and  behavior  is  of  great  importance  in 
recognizing  adolescent  defects.  Teachers  are  often 
puzzled  by  behavior  that  arises  in  a  complex  of  im- 
pulses subconsciously  developed.  Edith,  who  has  been 
your  most  attentive  pupil,  comes  to  class  with  an  en- 
tirely different  attitude,  is  restless,  whispers  to  the 
girls  near  her  and  seriously  disturbs  the  class.  Lucile 
suddenly  develops  a  sulky  and  insolent  manner  very 
unlike  that  of  her  usual  self.  Robert  has  been  a  leader 
in  working  up  a  class  pageant  in  which  he  has  an  im- 
portant part,  but  he  is  the  only  one  who  is  absent  on 
the  day  it  is  given.  Perhaps  we  cannot  discover  the 
causes  for  these  exasperating  variations  in  behavior, 
but  it  is  probable  that  some  unusual  nervous  experi- 
ence, the  nature  of  which  may  not  be  clear  even  to  the 
pupil  himself,  is  responsible  for  the  unusual  conduct. 
If  we  know  nothing  of  the  delicate  nervous  balance 
of  early  adolescence  and  the  roots  of  possible  disorder 

69 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

that  may  be  deep  in  the  subconscious  life  we  are  likely 
to  be  annoyed  or  angry  when  it  is  important  that  we 
be  gentle  and  sympathetic. 

TYPES  OF  PREVENTABLE  OR  CURABLE  DEFECTS 

Various  types  of  mental  defects  are  due  in  great 
degree  to  early  adolescent  neglect  or  ill  treatment.  A 
large  proportion  of  insanities  are  traceable  to  the  con- 
ditions of  adolescence,  and  there  are  predisposing 
causes  in  early  adolescence  for  many  forms  of  mental 
defect.  It  is  not  possible  here  to  discuss  fully  the  many 
types  of  early  adolescent  mental  and  nervous  condi- 
tions, but  it  will  be  profitable  to  consider  such  as  most 
commonly  affect  the  problem  of  understanding  our 
boys  and  girls. 

i.  Nervousness. — Nervousness,  of  various  types,  is 
very  characteristic  of  early  adolescence.  The  relatively 
rapid  changes  of  nervous  energy  and  balance,  due  to 
the  processes  of  adolescent  youth,  make  an  unstable 
nervous  equilibrium  a  natural  and  normal  element  in 
this  period.  It  is  very  important  that  the  entire  en- 
vironment, in  home,  school,  church,  and  community,  be 
such  as  to  facilitate  harmonious  development  and  nerv- 
ous balance.  Unfortunately  there  are  many  elements 
in  the  social  life  of  to-day  which  tend  rather  to  facili- 
tate nervousness.  In  The  Girl  in  Her  Teens,  Margaret 
Slattery  describes  a  common  condition : 

So  many  of  our  girls  are  "nervous."  An  eighth- 
grade  teacher  told  me  recently  that  she  had  fifty  girls 
in  her  class,  and  that  according  to  their  mothers  forty- 
one  of  them  were  "very  nervous,"  It  seemed  to  her 

70 


ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

a  large  proportion  even  for  girls  in  their  early  teens, 
and  she  began  a  quiet  study  of  some  of  them.  One  of 
the  "very  nervous"  girls  who,  her  mother  thought, 
must  be  taken  out  of  school  for  a  while,  takes  both 
piano  and  violin  lessons,  attends  dancing  school,  goes 
to  parties  now  and  then,  and  rarely  retires  before  ten 
o'clock.  Another  "very  nervous"  girl  takes  piano  les- 
sons, goes  to  moving-picture  shows  once  or  twice  a 
week,  hates  milk,  can't  eat  eggs,  doesn't  care  much  for 
fruit,  and  is  extremely  fond  of  candy.  In  each  case 
investigated  there  seemed  to  be  much  outside  of  school 
work  which  could  explain  the  nervousness. 

2.  Defective  social  attitudes. — There  are  many  so- 
cial attitudes  which  are  not  distinctly  abnormal,  but 
still  require  readjustment.  Uncorrected  they  may  lead 
to  decided  mental  and  moral  defects.  One  example  is 
excessive  shyness.  Shyness  has  been  mentioned  in  a 
previous  chapter  as  a  wholesome  provision  of  nature, 
but,  like  all  instinctive  tendencies,  it  may  have  a  harm- 
ful development.  An  alternation  of  shyness  and  bold- 
ness is  characteristic  of  early  adolescence,  as  it  is  of 
early  childhood,  and  should  not  be  considered  abnor- 
mal. But  some  boys  and  girls  are  temperamentally 
of  the  shut-in  type,  with  an  exaggerated  feeling  of 
inferiority.  They  are  sensitive,  easily  offended,  but 
silently  moody  rather  than  openly  vindictive.  Often 
they  seem  self-conceited  and  haughty  when  they  are 
really  abnormally  diffident.  They  need  to  be  en- 
couraged to  enter  into  the  social  life  of  boys  and  girls 
of  their  own  age.  Plans  to  introduce  them  into  normal 
and  unembarrassing  social  situations  will  help  them 
greatly. 

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PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

3.  Phobias,  or  chronic  fears,  such  as  the  fear  of 
high  places,  the  fear  of  cats,  etc.,  often  originate  in 
some  experience  of  fright  in  childhood,  which  may  be 
forgotten  so  far  as  consciousness  is  concerned,  but  re- 
mains as  a  subconscious  stimulus  to  some  unreasoning 
fear.    These  phobias  frequently  appear  in  early  adoles- 
cence, especially  in  girls.1     Frights  or  shocks  in  early 
adolescence,  particularly  those  involved  in  the  sex  life, 
often  entail  serious  though  frequently  obscure  results. 

4.  Obsessions,  the  emotional  reactions  to  a  fixed 
idea,  sometimes  amounting  to  a  very  serious  mental 
condition,  are  clearly  related  to  phobias  and  shocks 
often  having  their  origin  in  some  obscure  event  in 
childhood.  Whatever  their  cause  they  frequently  appear 
in  early  adolescence.    A  boy  or  girl  brooding  over  some 
real  or  fancied  misunderstanding  may  feel  that  others 
are  unfriendly  and  may  even  become  misanthropic  or 
develop  delusions  of  persecution.    It  should  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  occasional  feelings  of  melancholy 
are  normally  characteristic  of  adolescence. 

5.  Other  early-adolescent   defects. — The  subcon- 
scious elements  of  mental  life  are  very  active  in  early 
adolescence,  and  these  have  a  constant  and  sometimes 
abnormal    effect    upon   consciousness    and    behavior. 
Dreams  have  a  decided  influence  upon  the  waking  life, 
and  there  may  be  little  distinction  between  the  true 
dream  and  the  daydream,  while  both  may  deeply  affect 
one's  more  clearly  conscious  states.     The  history  of 
early  adolescence  is  marked  by  many  cases  of  hallucina- 
tions, visions,  ecstasies,  fits  of  melancholy,  as  well  as 

*Afal€*cencc,   Hall,    Volume   I,    page   277   f. 

7* 


ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

the  more  serious  types  of  nervous  aberration,  neu- 
rasthenia, hysteria,  dementia  precox,  epilepsy,  etc. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  PREVENTION 

The  solution  of  the  problem  here  suggested  is  not 
easy,  but  a  few  simple  principles  will  help  in  prevent- 
ing nervous  and  mental  disorders : 

1.  Proper  guidance  in  work,  study,  and  play. — 
This  is  of  special  importance  to  the  subnormal  or 
supranormal  boy  or  girl.     A  program  of  study,  for 
example,  may  be  well  adapted  to  the  normal  person  but 
may  discourage  and  depress  the  slower  mind,  while 
it  may  constitute  a  very  unbalanced  and  inadequate 
mental  diet  for  the  supranormal  or  unusually  bright 
mind.     The  precocious  boy  or  girl  is  quite  likely  to 
be  of  a  highly  nervous  temperament  and  consequently 
involves  a  distinct  problem. 

2.  Properly  balanced  life  habits. — Nervous  abnor- 
malities of  various  sorts  are  encouraged  by  such  factors 
as  insufficient  or  irregular  hours  of  sleep,  insufficient  or 
improper   food,  poorly  ventilated   rooms,  and  over- 
fatigue.     It  is  said  that  youthful  volunteers,  unac- 
customed to  the  rigors  of  military  service,  have  fre- 
quently recruited  the  ranks  of  the  adolescent  insane. 
Correct  nutrition  and  habits  of  exercise  contribute 
not  only  to  a  well-developed  body  but  also  to  a  normal 
and  healthy  mind.     The  ancient  idea  "mens  sana  in 
cor  pore  sano"  (a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body)  is  still 
of  practical  significance. 

3.  Sex  hygiene. — Contrary  to  common  belief,  vi- 
cious sex  habits  are  seldom  the  cause  of  mental  defects, 

73 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

but  they  are  likely  to  accompany  and  intensify  them. 
Such  habits  are  very  closely  associated  with  most 
cases  of  dementia  precox.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  any  habit  that  is  inconsistent  with  one's  moral 
ideals,  or  which  tends  to  generate  shame,  anxiety,  and 
loss  of  self-respect,  reacts  harmfully  upon  the  nervous 
system. 

4.  Personal  friendship. — Perhaps  the  greatest  need 
of   this   period  is   for   sympathetic   friendships   with 
older  persons.    There  is  a  pathetic  lack  of  understand- 
ing which  alienates  many  girls  from  their  mothers  and 
boys  from  their  fathers  just  when  there  is  the  greatest 
need  for  confidential  counsel. 

5.  Congenial  and  quiet  surroundings. — Such  an 
environment  may  be  the  deciding  factor  in  the  case  of 
a  nervous  boy  or  girl  between  mental  health  and  mental 
breakdown. 

6.  Suitable   companionships. — Much   depends   on 
the  chums  and  other  friends  of  similar  age  with  whom 
the  adolescent  boy  or  girl  associates.    In  many  cases  of 
mental  abnormalities  an  unfortunate  friendship  is  a 
seriously  complicating  factor.    It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  social  companionships  are  essential  to  the  well- 
developed  life.     The  boy  or  girl  of  the  shut-in  type, 
shy  and  easily  embarrassed,  needs  the  sympathetic  aid 
of  parent  or  teacher  in  developing  a  normal  social  life. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Discover  what  unusual  fears  and  obsessions,  if 
any,  there  are  in  various  members  of  your  class. 

2.  Study  one  or  more  copies  of  a  newspaper  for 

74 


ABNORMALITIES  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

records  of  juvenile  crime.  What  indications  can  you 
find  as  to  the  probable  mental  condition  of  the  delin- 
quents ? 

3.  How  large  a  proportion  of  your  pupils  are  re- 
tarded one  or  more  years  in  their  school  grades, 
judged  by  the  common  age  for  each  grade? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  Measurement  of  Intelligence,  Terman,  Chapter 
VI. 

Mental  Pitfalls  of  Adolescence,  Stedman  (pam- 
phlet), Publication  Number  22  of  Massachusetts  So- 
ciety for  Mental  Hygiene. 

Adolescence,  Hall,  Volume  I,  Chapters  IV  and  V. 

Mental  Conflicts  and  Misconduct,  Healy. 

The  Conservation  of  the  Child,  Holmes. 


75 


CHAPTER  VIII 
WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 

THE  author's  grandfather  as  a  boy  on  his  father's 
farm  had  been  pleasantly  occupied  in  some  unac- 
customed activity  when  he  looked  up  at  his  father  and 
asked,  "Is  this  work?" 
"Yes,"  answered  his  father,  "that  is  work." 
"Then  I  don't  want  to  do  it,"  said  the  boy,  throwing 
down  the  tools  with  which  he  had  been  engaged.  There 
are  many  who  have  a  similar  notion  of  the  relation  of 
work  to  play.  Play  is  desirable  and  pleasant  activity, 
while  work  is  undesirable  and  unpleasant.  But  this, 
like  many  definitions,  is  too  simple.  It  is  not  easy  to 
distinguish  clearly  between  work  and  play.  We  may 
conceive  of  a  series  of  activities  arranged  according 
to  their  pleasurableness,  somewhat  as  in  Figure  2, 
but  this  is  really  a  classification  of  the  various  atti- 
tudes toward  activities  rather  than  the  activities  them- 
selves. A  boy  digs  a  hole  in  the  ground  as  a  matter 
of  play.  He  puts  forth  considerable  effort,  but  it  is 
pleasurable  effort.  We  call  it  play.  His  father  comes 
out  with  his  spade  to  dig  a  hole  and  plant  a  tree.  He 
would  really  prefer  to  play  golf,  but  it  is  a  fine  morn- 
ing, he  is  in  good  health  and  spirits,  and  he  enjoys  the 
vigorous  exercise.  This  is  pleasurable  work.  At  the 
end  of  a  hard  day,  fatigued  and  nerve- weary,  he  faces 
a  similar  necessary  task  in  a  quite  different  way.  Now 

76 


77 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

it  is  relatively  unpleasant  work.  Under  still  more 
unpleasant  circumstances  this  essential  task  might  be 
actual  drudgery.  Play  is  often  defined  as  activity 
performed  because  of  one's  satisfaction  in  the  activity 
itself,  and  work  as  activity  having  its  incentive  in  some 
reward  beyond  itself.  Although  play  is  always  pleasur- 
ably  affected  by  the  activity  itself,  the  distinction  is 
difficult  to  maintain.  The  spirit  of  play  is  active  in 
much  of  what  we  call  work,  and  the  work  motive 
is  dominant  in  many  things  we  call  play.  The  follow- 
ing principles  apply  not  only  to  early  adolescence  but 
also  to  other  stages  of  development. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  PLAY 

1.  Play  is  not  mere  frivolity.    It  may  have  elements 
of  pure  " fooling"  in  it,  but  in  general  play  is  a  serious 
activity.    Adult  play  seldom  originates  in  a  frivolous 
spirit,  although  its  chief  value  is  in  relaxation.     The 
play  of  childhood  is  a  thoroughly  serious  occupation. 

2.  Play  is  essentially  whole-hearted  effort.    Because 
a  child  puts  himself  so  thoroughly  into  this  most  satis- 
fying type  of  activity  play  has  a  decided  educational 
value.    Lessons  learned  through  play  are  likely  to  be 
well  learned. 

3.  Boys  and  girls  need  a  considerable  amount  of  pure 
play — free  from  any  large  degree  of  the  work  motive. 

4.  Boys  and  girls  need  to  develop  a  tendency  to  do 
actual  work  for  worthy  ulterior  ends,  even  though  it 
involves  a  considerable  degree  of  unpleasant  effort. 

5.  Boys  and  girls  should,  so  far  as  possible,  develop 
the  play  attitude  toward  their  work. 

78 


WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 

It  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  work  of  a  teacher 
to  encourage  the  wholesome  development  of  all  the 
foregoing  tendencies.  We  must  first  realize  the  natural 
craving  and  the  vital  need  for  play. 

PLAY  IN  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

The  expression  of  the  play  impulse  in  early  adoles- 
cence is  different  from  the  expression  in  childhood. 
In  early  childhood  play  very  largely  consists  of  activity 
for  the  pure  joy  of  activity,  and  with  no  reference  to 
an  end  to  be  attained.  The  child  is  self-centered,  and  his 
play,  even  when  he  has  playmates,  is  essentially  soli- 
tary. He  enjoys  the  presence  of  other  children,  but  he 
plays  with  toys  that  he  considers,  at  least  temporarily, 
his  own.  There  is  little  cooperation  in  the  undirected 
play  of  little  children,  and  little  interest  in  rivalry. 
They  play  games  not  to  win  over  one  another,  but  for 
pure  self-expression. 

In  middle  and  later  childhood  rivalry  develops,  and 
also  an  interest  in  the  end  to  be  realized  in  play.  Now 
children  run  races  to  win.  They  are  still  distinctly  self- 
centered,  as  anyone  who  attempts  to  regulate  their  play 
will  discover.  The  ten-year-old  boy  is  a  grand-stand 
player.  He  wishes  to  outdo  others  for  his  own  glory. 
But  in  early  adolescence  a  new  social  spirit  is  awaken- 
ing. There  are  new  loyalties  developing,  and  the  boys 
and  girls  are  playing  athletic  games  for  the  idealized 
honor  of  a  team  or  a  class  or  a  school.  Team  play, 
sacrifice  hits,  enthusiasm  for  idealized  groups,  are  be- 
coming dominant  elements  in  play. 

79 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

PHYSICAL  PLAY 

A  large  part  of  the  play  of  early  adolescence  is 
physical  play.  Boys  and  girls  of  this  age,  with  their 
rapid  development  of  muscle  tissue  and  nervous 
energy,  are  subject  to  a  muscle  hunger  or  a  muscle 
intoxication  that  greatly  affects  their  play.  They 
enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  the  large  muscles  and  are 
beginning  to  acquire  facility  in  the  finer  muscular  co- 
ordination. They  delight  in  athletics,  in  walking,  run- 
ning, rowing,  swimming,  and  dancing,  and  in  romping 
and  horseplay.  Unlike  children  they  delight  in  putting 
the  last  ounce  of  energy  into  a  game.  They  need  sym- 
pathetic guidance  and  a  wholesome  outlet  for  the  nerv- 
ous energy  that  must  be  released  in  some  sort  of 
physical  activity.  We  cannot  solve  the  play  problem 
by  a  policy  of  restriction,  enforcing  a  program  of  "all 
work  and  no  play/'  One  of  the  serious  problems  for 
the  American  state  and  church  is  the  development  of 
a  wholesome  program  of  play.  Perhaps  the  most  seri- 
ous element  in  this  problem  is  the  development  in  older 
persons  of  an  intelligently  sympathetic  attitude  toward 
the  play  of  our  boys  and  girls.  The  frequently  mis- 
chievous activities  of  adolescent  boys  and  girls  may  be 
turned  into  wholesome  channels  through  a  well-con- 
sidered program  of  sports  and  recreations. 

Moral  value  of  play. — One  of  the  chief  values  of 
well-regulated  play  is  its  moral  influence.  The  battle 
of  Waterloo  is  said  to  have  been  won  on  the  cricket 
fields  of  England.  If  so,  it  was  through  the  develop- 
ment of  the  social  and  moral  attitudes  and  habits 

80 


WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 

which  made  the  English  officers  the  men  they  were. 
The  rough  games  of  adolescence  have  done  much  to 
develop  the  moral  values  of  fair  play,  good  sportsman- 
ship, and  loyalty  to  group  ideals.  They  need  super- 
vision and  guidance,  but  with  these  they  may  be  among 
the  chief  forces  for  moral  education. 

Games  for  girls. — Much  has  been  written  about  the 
moral  value  of  sports  for  boys.  It  is  fortunate  that 
their  value  for  girls  is  gaining  the  attention  of  the 
world  of  education.  Group  games  are  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  early  adolescent  girl.  "If  a  girl  does 
not  become  a  good  sport  before  she  is  fourteen  she 
never  will,  but  will  be  condemned  to  premature  young 
ladyhood."1 

THE  PLAY  PROGRAM 

John  L.  Alexander  has  reported  the  responses  of 
1 80  pastors  and  church  workers  to  a  series  of  ques- 
tions on  the  social  and  intellectual  life  of  adolescents.2 
In  the  replies  to  the  question  "What  provision  is  your 
church  making  for  the  social  and  intellectual  life 
of  boys  and  girls  in  setting  apart  room  for  such  ac- 
tivities as  games,  debates,  club  and  reading  purposes  ?" 
he  finds  that  the  majority  express  a  willingness  to 
"allow"  the  boys  and  girls  to  use  certain  rooms,  but 
that  there  are  few  plans  to  initiate  or  direct  the  use 
of  such  rooms.  It  is  clearly  one  of  the  most  important 
duties  of  the  church  and  the  church  school  to  provide 
and  properly  supervise  a  recreational  program  for  our 
boys  and  girls. 

»Ptoy  in  Education,  Lee,  page  392  f. 

*The  Sunday  School  and  the  Teens,  Alexander,  Chapter  XIII. 

81 


PSYCHOLOGY   OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

Adapting  a  program  to  social  needs. — What  an 
adequate  play  program  includes  and  what  the  average 
teacher  can  do  to  promote  wholesome  recreation  are 
problems  too  comprehensive  for  discussion  here. 
Teachers  should  be  familiar  with  one  or  more  books 
on  the  subject,  several  of  which  are  listed  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the 
program  should  be  planned  with  the  social  situation 
of  a  group  definitely  in  mind.  The  rural  group,  for 
example,  will  need  a  different  program  from  that  of 
the  city.  The  following  observations  were  made  by  a 
committee  on  recreation  and  rural  health  which  re- 
ported to  the  Bureau  of  Education : 

"(a)  Farm  boys  and  girls  do  not  develop  sym- 
metrically. 

"(b)  The  work  of  the  farm  seems  to  overdevelop 
the  major  or  fundamental  muscles,  while  the  finer  or 
accessory  muscles  are  neglected." 

This  being  true,  it  is  evident  that  the  play  program 
for  rural  boys  and  girls  should  be  planned  to  correct 
this  unbalanced  development.  There  may  be  other 
maladjustments  in  city  boys  and  girls  which  may  also 
be  corrected  through  a  play  program.  The  value  of  a 
thorough  program  of  physical  training  and  play  is 
indicated  in  the  following  report  by  a  play  expert : 

Ipswich  is  a  town  of  eight  thousand  inhabitants.  It 
has  no  playgrounds,  no  physical  training  in  its  schools. 
It  has  a  high-school  athletic  field,  many  vacant  lots,  and 
the  open  country  was  in  sight.  On  a  test  given  to  all 
boys  in  the  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades  it 
was  found  that  the  average  performance  of  the  thou- 

82 


WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 

sands  of  boys  in  the  same  grades  in  the  schools  in  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan,  New  York  City,  exceeded  that 
of  the  Ipswich  boys : 

In  the  standing  broad  jump by  25  per  cent 

In  the  running  60  yards by  70  per  cent 

And  in  chinning  the  horizontal  bar  they  did  five  times 
as  many. 

With  all  the  vacant  lots  and  open  country  the 
Ipswich  boys  were  found  to  be : 

6  per  cent  in  the  athletic  field; 
12  per  cent  in  the  vacant  lots; 
20  per  cent  in  the  home  yards;  and 
62  per  cent  on  the  streets. 

Of  all  the  girls  observed,  75  per  cent  were  on  the 
streets.3 

THE  PLAY  SPIRIT  IN  WORK 

"The  greater  part  of  life/*  says  Seashore,  "is  neither 
wholly  play  nor  wholly  work/'  There  are  many 
instances  in  which  useful  tasks  are  done  in  the  whole- 
hearted, happy  spirit  of  play,  and  there  are  other  cases 
of  so-called  play  which  are  downright  drudgery. 
Probably  the  most  useful  creative  work  of  man  is 
done  in  the  mood  of  play.  It  is  joyful  self-expres- 
sion, into  which  one  throws  his  whole  soul.  One 
who  does  not  enjoy  his  work  cannot  fully  enjoy  his 
play.  To  develop  in  boys  and  girls  a  love  of  work, 
an  interest  that  glorifies  toil  with  the  play  spirit,  is  one 
of  the  fine  privileges  of  a  true  teacher.  "Engineering 
is  not  work  to  me/'  says  a  distinguished  engineer.  "It 
is  my  life,  my  way  of  expressing  myself.  I  spend 

'George  W.  Ehler,  former  Director  of  Physical  Education,  Unirersity  of 

Wisconsin,  in  the  Kansas   Teacher,  March,    1017. 

83 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

twelve  or  fourteen  hours  a  day  at  engineering.  I  spend 
half  an  hour  a  day  at  work — reading  things  or  doing 
things  that  I  feel  I  must  read  and  do,  but  which 
themselves  are  disagreeable  or  uninteresting."  Early- 
adolescent  boys  and  girls  are  rapidly  forming  their 
life  habits.  Both  work  and  play  are  essential  to  them. 
Their  training  in  these  crucial  years  may  largely  de- 
termine whether  they  will  be  frivolous  loafers,  or 
"grinds,"  or  wholesomely  balanced  young  people  who 
enjoy  both  work  and  play  and  still  have  the  moral 
stamina  to  face  with  determination  a  disagreeable  task. 
To  develop  this  wholesome  attitude  toward  work 
and  play  we  must  stimulate  worthy  ideals  in  play  and 
worthy  motives  in  work.  If  we  ourselves  find  pleasure 
in  our  work  our  suggestible  pupils  will  be  stimulated 
to  a  like  interest  and  may  consciously  or  unconsciously 
imitate  our  attitudes.  And  if  we  so  plan  their  work 
as  to  bring  into  play  their  curiosity,  their  native  enjoy- 
ment of  a  variety  of  sense  experiences,  their  self -re- 
garding impulses,  such  as  emulation,  and  especially 
their  altruistic  impulses,  their  work  may  become  a 
pleasure.  The  chief  factor  will  very  likely  be  the  con- 
tagion of  your  own  joy  in  service. 

A  BALANCED  PROGRAM 

The  properly  balanced  program  of  work  and  play  for 
early  adolescence  is  a  difficult  problem,  but  one  worthy 
of  thorough  study.  It  is  evident  to  the  least  observing 
that  recreations  and  amusements  are  taking  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  time  than  formerly.  City  condi- 
tions are  introducing  a  variety  of  social  problems,  not 

84 


WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 


the  least  of  which  is  the  complex  problem  of  amuse- 
ments. Since  relatively  little  attention  has  been  given 
to  early-adolescent  boys  and  girls  in  planning  public 
amusements,  this  phase  of  the  life  of  our  young  peo- 
ple has  been  commercialized,  often  to  the  harm  of  our 
boys  and  girls.  Several  years  ago  a  study  of  four 
large  high  schools  showed  that  a  majority  of  the  stu- 
dents spent  not  more  than  four  evenings  a  week  at 
home.4  To  say  nothing  of  the  often  questionable  char- 
acter of  amusements  offered  by  the  commercial  inter- 
ests there  is  a  disproportionate  amount  of  time  spent 
by  early  adolescent  boys  and  girls  in  motion  picture 
theaters,  amusement  parks,  and  other  similar  resorts. 

Cooperation. — Churches,  schools,  and  teachers 
should  cooperate  in  a  program  of  recreation.  The 
evils  of  injudicious  amusements  cannot  be  cured  by  a 
merely  negative  attitude.  We  greatly  need  a  positive 
program  that  shall  include  both  work  and  play.  Work 
that  is  really  useful  service  and  not  a  mere  make- 
believe  responds  to  the  growing  hunger  of  adolescence 
for  a  part  in  the  activities  of  the  world  of  real  life. 
And  play  is  a  wholesome  release  for  the  pent-up 
energies  of  youth  and  a  means  of  positive  develop- 
ment for  the  attitudes  and  activities  involved  in  moral 
and  social  behavior. 

A  playground  specialist  has  recommended  the  fol- 
lowing apparatus  for  the  recreational  activities  of  early- 
adolescent  boys  and  girls : 

This  should  include  an  outdoor  gymnasium   (the 


*The  High-School  Age,  King,   page  173. 

85 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

boys  with  the  aid  of  blacksmith  and  carpenter  can 
provide  apparatus  for  such  gymnasium  it  it  is  not 
possible  to  buy  apparatus  of  regular  manufacturers), 
running  track,  jumping  standards,  apparatus  for  vault- 
ing, hurdles,  eight-pound  shot,  baseball  and  football 
field,  tennis  court,  bowling  green,  croquet  sets,  basket- 
ball court,  skating  rink,  indoor  gymnasium,  swimming 
pool,  homemade  boats,  rowboats,  sailboats,  guns,  fish- 
ing tackle ;  workshop ;  mechanical  and  electrical  toys ; 
den  or  clubhouse ;  garden ;  pets ;  menagerie,  vivarium, 
aquarium,  nature  collections;  puppet  theater;  musical 
instruments ;  outfit  of  some  sort  for  painting,  modeling, 
carving,  or  burning ;  material  for  sewing,  beadwork,  or 
embroidery.5 

Most  valuable  suggestions  are  to  be  found  in  the 
handbooks  of  the  Boy  Scouts  and  the  Camp  Fire  Girls. 
The  insight  into  the  life  of  boys  and  girls  which  has 
guided  the  development  of  these  organizations  will 
be  of  great  value  to  all  teachers  of  early-adolescent 
boys  and  girls. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Make  a   list   of  the  games   preferred   by   your 
pupils.     How  large  a  proportion  of  them  are  active 
games  ? 

2.  Ask  your  pupils  to  make  a  chart  showing  the  way 
they  spend  their  time  for  a  week,  under  these  heads: 
sleep,  meals,  school  recitations,  study  in  school  hours, 
study  out  of  school  hours,  parties  and  similar  social 
gatherings,  commercial  amusements,  such  as  "movies," 
theaters,  etc.,  work  in  the  home,  work  for  pay,  clubs 
and  other  meetings,  gymnasium  or  other  organized 
play,  free  or  spontaneous  play,  practicing  music,  or 
other  art  studies. 

^Education  by  Play  and  Games,  Johnson,  pages  207f. 

86 


WORK  AND  PLAY  ATTITUDES 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  Sunday  School  and  the  Teens,  Alexander,  Chap- 
ters XV  and  XIX. 

Seven  Ages  of  Childhood,  Cabot,  Chapter  XL 

Recreation  and  the  Church,  Gates. 

The  Psychology  of  Social  Reconstruction,  Patrick, 
Chapter  V. 

Play  in  Education,  Lee. 

Education  by  Play  and  Games,  Johnson,  pages  205  ff. 

The  High-School  Age,  King,  Chapter  XL 

Leadership  of  Girls'  Activities,  Moxcey. 

Good  Times  for  Girls,  Moxcey. 

Physical  Health  and  Recreation  for  Girls,  Moxcey. 

Psychology  in  Daily  Life,  Seashore,  Chapter  I. 

Psychology  of  Adolescence,  Tracy,  pages  216  f . 

School  Efficiency,  Bennett,  Chapter  XXL 

How  to  Teach,  Strayer  and  Norsworthy,  Chapter 
IX. 

The  Parent  and  the  Child,  Cope,  page  56. 


CHAPTER  IX 
MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

CHILDREN  are  not  born  moral ;  neither  are  they  im- 
moral. According  to  adult  standards  they  are  rela- 
tively nonmoral,  but  they  develop  a  morality  that 
grows  with  their  growth  from  infancy  to  age.  A  con- 
trast of  the  ruling  impulses  of  childhood  with  those 
of  adult  life  will  show  what  great  adjustments  must 
be  made  during  adolescence.  An  infant  is  almost  al- 
together egoistic.  He  is  self -centered,  willful,  and  un- 
sympathetic. At  the  beginning  his  caresses,  like  those 
of  a  purring  cat,  are  his  pleasurable  reactions  to  the 
comfort  of  his  environment.  Experience  soon  teaches 
him  that  caresses  bring  caresses  in  return,  and  through- 
out the  years  of  child  life  there  is  a  more  or  less  con- 
scious bartering  of  what  we  term  good  behavior  for 
good  will  and  the  satisfaction  of  childish  wants.  Child- 
ish sympathy  is  a  slow-growing  plant.  There  are  tears 
in  plenty,  but  they  are  tears  of  self-pity  rather  than 
sorrow  for  the  ills  of  others.  As  childhood  develops, 
the  social  impulses  that  lead  to  sympathy  slowly 
awaken;  but  as  a  whole  childhood  is  predominantly 
individualistic.  A  child  develops  personal  rather  than 
group  rivalries,  is  jealous  of  favors  shown  other  chil- 
dren, seeks  to  be  noticed  and  given  attention.  Nature 
has  made  no  mistake  in  giving  children  this  self-seek- 
ing nature.  It  is  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  depend- 


MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

ence  on  the  care  of  older  people.  But  as  a  child 
attains  a  greater  relative  independence,  social  responsi- 
bilities appear,  and  so  normal  development  involves  a 
developing  moral  sense.  The  social  responsibilities  of 
childhood  are  chiefly  established  with  reference  to 
child  groups ;  -hence,  a  quite  distinct  moral  code  de- 
velops in  childhood. 

SOCIAL  ATTITUDES  OF  ADULTS  AND  CHILDREN 

In  adult  life,  however,  there  is  a  much  greater  degree 
of  personal  independence  and  power,  with  a  consequent 
increase  in  responsibility.  The  moral  world  is  greater 
and  more  complex  than  in  childhood.  There  is  a  wide 
variety  of  social  contacts  and  an  increasingly  com- 
plicated ethical  code.  Thus,  while  the  attitudes  of 
individualism,  which  arise  from  the  most  primitive 
of  instincts,  never  disappear,  they  give  way  in  great 
degree,  in  the  normal  personality,  to  those  instinctive 
attitudes  and  impulses  which  we  call  social.  The  nor- 
mal relationships  of  the  social  and  individualistic  im- 
pulses in  the  various  stages  of  development  may  be 
represented  by  Figure  3. 

In  early  adolescence  the  social  impulses  are  normally 
beginning  to  dominate  the  personality.  It  is  a  period 
of  a  new  appreciation  of  social  relationships.  The 
dominance  of  the  instinct  of  sex  attraction  may  be 
overestimated,  but  it  has  a  deep  influence  upon  human 
development  from  early  adolescence  on.  The  con- 
sciousness of  relation  to  social  groups  has  been  develop- 
ing before  adolescence  begins,  but  now  it  becomes  more 
distinct,  while  it  involves  a  larger  number  of  group 

89 


MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

relationships.  Loyalties  to  a  school,  a  club,  or  a  base- 
ball team  become  prominent.  It  now  becomes  possible 
to  organize  group  games  that  were  unsatisfactory  in 
earlier  periods.  Personal  attachments  become  deeper 
and  more  permanent  than  before. 

RELATION  TO  OLDER  PERSONS 

In  early  adolescence  there  is  a  growing  interest  in 
the  world  of  adult  society.  Boys  and  girls  are  look- 
ing forward  eagerly  to  becoming  men  and  women. 
Hitherto  they  have  "played"  at  being  grown-ups ;  now 
they  begin  actually  to  try  to  assume  the  attitudes  of 
adults.  A  girl  of  thirteen  wrote  in  her  diary:  "My 
new  summer  coat  and  skirt  are  awfully  becoming, 
everyone  says.  Father  says,  too:  'I  say,  you'll  be  a 
young  lady !  But  don't  grow  up  too  quickly !'  I  can't 
make  out  why  he  said  that;  I  should  like  to  be  quite 
grown  up;  but  it  will  be  a  long  time  yet." 

Not  Children. — This  relatively  new  interest  in  adult 
life  and  this  impatience  with  what  seem  the  slow 
processes  of  growing  into  that  desired  estate  should 
be  appreciated  by  every  teacher.  Every  stage  of  de- 
velopment from  puberty  on  is  magnified  in  the  eyes  of 
the  boys  and  girls  themselves.  A  year's  difference  in 
age  means  little  to  the  adult ;  it  means  much  to  a  four- 
teen-year-old boy  or  girl.  From  the  standpoint  of 
fourteen,  sixteen  is  a  quite  grown-up  age,  while  the 
years  of  the  twenties  represent  a  distant  and  advanced 
age.  Still,  the  boy  of  fourteen  may  feel  that  he  belongs 
with  an  older  group  and  is  likely  to  chafe  at  any  under- 
estimation of  his  years  and  powers.  Teachers  should 


PSYCHOLOGY   OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

sympathke  with  these  adolescent  notions  and  should 
correspondingly  modify  their  attitudes  toward  boys 
and  girls  of  different  ages.  Do  not  refer  to  adolescent 
boys  and  girls  as  children  even  in  the  circle  of  the 
teachers'  meeting  or  workers*  conference;  never  chal- 
lenge their  resentment  by  treating  them  as  children. 

Companionship  with  adults.— The  growing  adoles- 
cent interest  in  adult  life  has  another  pedagogical 
corollary.  There  should  be  a  closer  and  freer  com- 
panionship between  these  young  people  and  adults.  In 
one  respect  the  ancient  Spartans  may  teach  us  a  les- 
son. They  had  a  sort  of  big-brother  plan,  according 
to  which  a  boy  became  the  friend  and  companion  of  an 
older  man.  The  Roman  father  improved  on  this  by 
himself  becoming  the  close  companion  of  his  boy.  Not 
only  parents  but  other  adults  should  get  acquainted 
with  the  adolescent  boys  and  girls.  They  are  in  a 
period  of  hero  worship  and  chums  and  personal  ad- 
mirations. They  are  often  ardently  devoted  to  favorite 
teachers.  One  girl,  after  a  visit  with  an  idolized 
former  teacher,  wrote :  "I  shall  simply  live  upon  this 
memory,  and  the  only  thing  I  want  in  life  is  that  I 
may  see  her  once  more."1  To  be  sure,  many  adoles- 
cent "crushes"  are  unwholesome,  but  the  influence  of 
sensible  and  sympathetic  older  people  is  generally  help- 
ful. 

GANGS  AND  BUNCHES 

The  social  interest  which  has  been  gradually  increas- 
ing during  later  childhood  expresses  itself  in  the  im- 

*A  Young  Girl's  Diary,  translated  by  Eden  and  Cedar  Paul,  page  280. 

Q2 


MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

pulse  to  group  in  a  variety  of  organizations — informal 
"gangs"  of  boys  or  "bunches"  of  girls,  secret  clubs,  or 
more  formal  organizations.  This  tendency  reaches  its 
height  in  early  adolescence.  A  gang  of  boys,  unregu- 
lated and  under  improper  influences,  may  be  a  terror 
to  a  neighborhood ;  but  in  their  grouping  together  they 
are  following  the  call  of  a  deep  instinctive  impulse. 
The  problem  of  the  gang  is  no  easy  one  to  solve,  but 
it  cannot  be  solved  by  a  mere  coercive  attempt  to  break 
up  the  gang.  With  sympathetic  interest  in  the  boys  you 
may  succeed  in  directing  the  energies  of  a  given  group 
into  more  wholesome  channels. 

Group  loyalty. — The  gang  problem  involves  the 
factors  of  leadership  and  loyalty.  You  cannot  appoint 
leaders  from  the  outside;  they  develop  in  the  social 
environment  within  the  group.  The  chief  strategy  of 
winning  a  gang  for  higher  ideals  and  purposes  is  to 
win  the  leader  or  leaders.  The  loyalty  of  the  boys 
to  their  group  and  its  leadership  can  thus  be  con- 
served for  the  higher  aims  that  may  be  suggested  to 
these  natural  leaders. 

Girls'  clubs. — The  spontaneous  organizations  of 
girls  are  not  so  conspicuous  as  those  of  boys,  largely 
because  they  are  usually  somewhat  more  restricted; 
but  there  is  a  similarly  strong  tendency  for  girls  to 
form  more  or  less  organized  groups.  Girls  form  clubs 
for  all  sorts  of  purposes,  having  probably  as  wide  a 
variety  of  organization  aims  as  boys.  Such  organiza- 
tions can  readily  be  formed  about  the  influencing  per- 
sonality of  an  admired  adult  leader. 

An  enviable  opportunity. — To  direct  the  group  im- 
93 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

pulses  of  boys  and  girls  into  wholesome  channels  and 
use  them  in  the  interest  of  our  educational  aims  is  a 
task  for  a  skillful  and  sympathetic  worker  who  can 
influence  the  leadership  of  the  group  or  even  become 
personally  identified  with  the  group.  Such  a  leader 
must  have  the  unusual  power  to  be  one  in  an  adolescent 
group  without  condescension  or  a  sense  of  being  an 
outsider.  If  you  have  good  sense  and  patience  and  a 
real  interest  in  the  group  you  may  perhaps  be 
"adopted,"  as  some  white  men  have  been  adopted  by 
Indian  tribes. 

MIXED  MORAL  CODES 

With  a  background  of  child  morals  and  a  new  inter- 
est in  a  variety  of  social  relationships  it  is  inevitable 
that  there  is  often  an  illogical  mixture  of  ethical  atti- 
tudes. A  girl  of  fourteen  shows  a  womanliness  of 
sympathy  and  understanding  which  encourages  her 
teacher,  and  then  is  blamed  for  some  childish  impulse 
of  selfishness.  The  new  social  appreciation  should  be 
cultivated,  the  egoistic  impulse  should  be  discouraged ; 
but  the  girl  is  nervously  unstable  and  sensitive  tb  criti- 
cism, and  a  delicately  sympathetic  touch  is  the  needed 
and  difficult  treatment.  It  is  a  splendid  triumph  for 
the  teacher  to  win  the  confidence  and  loyalty  of  one 
of  these  early-adolescent  boys  or  girls. 

Contending  impulses. — The  frequent  oppositions  of 
adolescent  characteristics  which  have  been  discussed  in 
Chapter  V  appear  in  various  social  attitudes.  Adoles- 
cence sees  a  distinct  development  of  the  altruistic  spirit 
essential  to  a  worthy  morality.  Helpfulness,  social 

94 


MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

loyalty,  service  to  the  world,  become  ruling  ideals  in 
the  idealistic  years  of  adolescence.  But  along- 
side the  altruism  of  early  adolescence  are  a 
new  consciousness  of  self,  rising  self -evaluation, 
and  the  impulses  of  self-interest.  It  is  char- 
acteristic of  this  often  paradoxical  period  that 
a  boy  may  seem  self -centered  almost  to  heartlessness 
and  still  may  at  times  display  a  loyal  devotion  to  his 
chum  or  to  his  family  or  other  social  group.  Adoles- 
cence is  a  period  of  rather  free  impulsiveness  that  may 
at  one  time  be  self-centered  and  at  another  time  sym- 
pathetic. 

THE  DESIRE  FOR  SOLITUDE  AND  FOR  SOCIETY 

The  alternations  and  contradictions  of  joy  and 
melancholy  have  already  been  discussed.  Related  to 
these  moods,  perhaps,  is  the  desire  for  solitude  which 
often  alternates  with  the  wish  to  be  in  the  social  group. 
The  desire  for  solitude,  like  the  feeling  of  shyness,  is 
not  a  true  nonsocial  tendency.  It  may  arise  in  a  reac- 
tion to  some  social  situation  or  it  may  come  from  the 
social  impulse  that  led  the  boy  Wordsworth  to  desert 
his  fellow  revelers  and  commune  with  the  living  pres- 
ence of  nature.  We  find  this  desire  in  the  life  of 
Jesus,  but  it  responded  to  a  social  tendency  to  com- 
munion with  Him  whom  Jesus  called  Father. 

THE  DESIRE  FOR  APPROBATION 

The  desire  for  approbation  shows  itself  in  all  sorts 
of  wholesome  and  unwholesome  ways.  It  leads  to 
industry  and  worthy  ambition  and  also  to  false  social 

95 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

evaluations  and  dishonest  means  of  gaining  attention. 
It  differs  from  the  childish  "showing  off"  in  that  it 
has  a  different  social  background.  It  is  not  mere 
egoism,  but  the  desire  to  adjust  one's  self  with  advan- 
tage to  a  social  environment.  Because  of  the  feeling 
of  being  under  the  observation  of  his  group  the  ado- 
lescent boy  will  throw  his  energy  into  the  working  of 
an  algebra  problem  or  the  winning  of  a  basketball 
game.  The  same  instinctive  desire  for  approbation 
may  lead  to  deep  humiliation  and  mental  distress. 
Thus,  a  farmer's  daughter  writes  that  during  her  early 
adolescence  she  suffered  an  exaggerated  sense  of 
shame.  She  was  ashamed  of  living  in  the  country, 
of  riding  to  school  in  a  buggy,  and  of  the  out-of-fash- 
ion  clothing  of  her  parents. 

ACUTE  CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 

The  conscience  of  adolescence  is  a  friendly  monitor 
and  also  an  inquisitorial  torment.  It  is  often  a 
Pharisaic  conscience,  legalistic  and  particular,  castigat- 
ing the  boy  or  girl  for  slight  infractions  of  law  or  for 
purely  imaginary  faults.  It  grows  out  of  the  legalism 
of  childhood,  with  its  ideal  of  obedience,  under  the 
new  impulses  and  moral  urgencies  of  adolescence. 
Many  a  boy  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  has  a  keen  sense  of 
obligation  to  keep  his  word  even  in  trivial  matters ;  and 
though  he  is  led  to  break  his  word,  it  is  with  a  sense 
of  having  violated  a  vow.  A  young  woman  writes 
from  her  recollections  of  this  period : 

My  attitude  became  scrupulous.  I  hated  to  apologize 
for  tear  that  I  might  not  be  telling  the  truth.  My  fear 

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MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

of  acting  a  lie  or  being  a  hypocrite  made  my  life  un- 
bearable at  times.  I  was  not  very  mischievous  at 
school  and  knew  my  lessons  well,  so  that  in  order  to 
make  clear  to  the  teacher  that  I  was  not  exactly  "per- 
fect" I  took  to  telling  things  about  my  awful  past. 

A  CRITICAL  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  OTHERS 

The  conscientiousness  above  discussed  is  often 
turned  about  in  a  sort  of  vicarious  conscience  for 
others.  This,  joined  to  a  vivid  imagination  and  per- 
sonal sensitiveness,  often  results  in  painful  misunder- 
standings, suspicions  and  accusations  of  others.  When 
a  girl  fell  down  the  stairs  with  a  china  pitcher,  and 
her  mother's  first  inquiry  was  if  she  had  broken  the 
pitcher,  she  concluded  that  her  mother  thought  more 
of  the  pitcher  than  of  her  and  was  convinced  of  the 
falsity  of  this  conclusion  only  after  "no  little  amount  of 
petting."  Another  young  woman  describes  this  char- 
acteristic attitude : 

I  have  always  been  very  conscientious  and  I  think  it 
reached  its  maximum  during  this  early  adolescence.  I 
imagined  I  was  more  abused  than  anyone  else  in  the 
whole  world.  And  as  long  as  my  folks  could  not 
appreciate  me,  I  wished  for  all  sorts  of  calamities  to 
befall  me,  just  to  make  them  sad  and  regretful. 

It  is  clear  that  a  teacher  must  move  carefully  among 
the  various  heterogeneous  impulses  out  of  which  ado- 
lescent morality  must  develop.  His  need  is  for  deep 
sympathy  and  clear  thinking.  A  word  of  encourage- 
ment at  the  right  time  may  be  of  untold  value,  while  a 
careless  criticism  may  work  serious  harm.  Our  sugges- 
tions concerning  the  moral  ideals  of  our  pupils  should 

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PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

very  seldom  be  negative.  We  should  seek  to  direct  and 
use  an  impulse  in  the  interest  of  an  advancing  moral 
life  rather  than  to  abolish  it.  We  should  encourage 
the  establishment  of  new  habits  to  supplant  the  less 
desirable.  The  boy  who  is  shy  and  retiring  should 
not  be  ruthlessly  dragged  into  the  group,  but  his  inter- 
ests should  be  recognized  and  made  the  basis  for  con- 
tacts with  the  group.  The  girl  who  is  ashamed  of  her 
poverty  or  her  unfashionable  dress  or  her  plain  face 
should  be  tactfully  led  to  realize  her  compensating  good 
qualities  and  opportunities  and  to  gain  a  broader  out- 
look and  an  appreciation  of  higher  values.  Frances 
Willard  in  early  adolescence  mourned  her  lack  of 
beauty,  but  she  was  greatly  comforted  by  the  sugges- 
tion that  she  resembled  a  grandfather  who  was  very 
"noble  looking/'  and  by  the  encouragement  of  her 
brother,  who  said,  "Never  mind,  Frank,  if  you  are  not 
the  handsomest  girl  in  school  you  are  the  smartest." 
Out  of  these  complex  impulses,  with  many  others, 
develops  the  more  settled,  better  reasoned,  more  con- 
sistent morality  of  later  years.  This  is  a  period  of 
moral  dangers,  and  one  in  which  well-trained  and  sym- 
pathetic teachers  may  be  of  untold  value  to  the  de- 
veloping life.  Without  moral  guidance  boys  and  girls 
may  drift  into  careless  habits,  vice,  or  crime. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Recall  and  describe  the  various  spontaneous  clubs 
or  other  organizations  to  which  you  belonged  in  early 
adolescence. 

2.  What  differences  can  you  discover  between  the 

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MORAL  LIFE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

moral  code  of  a  boy  of  ten  and  that  of  a  man  of  thirty  ? 
How  do  they  differ  regarding  property  rights  ?  honesty, 
loyalty  to  social  groups,  etc.? 

3.  What  woman  of  your  acquaintance  has  most  de- 
finitely the  confidence  of  young  girls?  Why  do  they 
make  her  a  confidante  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

The  Boy  and  the  Sunday  School,  Alexander. 
Girlhood  and  Character,  Moxcey,  Chapters  VI  and 
VII. 

The  Boy  Problem,  Forbush. 
Training  the  Girl,  McKeever. 
Training  the  Boy,  McKeever. 
Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,  Coe. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  EARLY  ADOLES- 
CENCE 

WE  HAVE  a  twofold  interest  in  the  adolescent  reli- 

fj  gious  life.    We  are  concerned  with  its  relation  to  the 

religion  of  later  life  and  also  with  its  value  to  the  boy 

or  girl  of  to-day.    While  its  value  as  a  preparation  is 

important,  our  chief  concern  should  be  for  religion  as 

adapted  to  the  present  needs  of  adolescence.    We  may 

accept  the  principle  that  the  best  adaptation  of  boy  or 

girl  life  to  the  needs  of  its  present  environment  is  the 

best  preparation  for  a  later  stage  of  development.    It 

is  likewise  true  that  the  training  of  childhood  for  its 

xown  needs  is  the  best  preparation  for  adolescence.   Jn 

/   the  swirl  of  adolescent  impulses  the  normal  progress 

\  toward  the  desirable  harmony  of  adult  life  very  largely 

/  depends  on  the  habits  and  ideals  that  have  been  de- 

S    veloped  throughout  childhood. 

THE  COMPLEX  PROBLEM  OF  RELIGIOUS  TRAINING 

The  problem  of  religious  guidance  for  this  period  is 
a  very  complicated  one.  Religion  is  always  a  complex 
of  instincts  and  emotions,  perhaps  involving,  in  its  full 
development,  a  sublimation  and  complication  of  all 
these  fundamental  human  tendencies,  relatively  un- 
organized and  bewilderingly  complicated.  Adolescent 
religion,  therefore,  being  a  union  of  these  two  systems 

100 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

of  complexes,  cannot  be  a  simple  problem.  The 
teacher  of  early-adolescent  boys  or  girls  must  study 
them  thoroughly,  understand  them  as  much  as  possible, 
and  have  faith  that  whatever  of  good  training  they 
have  had  in  childhood  will  have  its  effect  in  carrying 
them  safely  through  the  adolescent  crisis. 

RELATIVELY  REGULAR  DEVELOPMENT 

Despite  the  complication  above  described  there  may 
be  a  relatively  regular  development  of  adolescent  reli- 
gious life,  or  "growth  without  definite  transitions,'* 
to  use  Starbuck's  expression.  This  most  desirable  type 
of  development  depends  in  general  on  careful  guidance 
through  all  the  periods  of  childhood  and  adolescence. 
Boys  and  girls  thus  safeguarded  may  in  a  great  degree 
avoid  the  sense  of  alienation  and  self-condemnation 
which  makes  adolescence  for  so  many  a  period  of  tor- 
ment, inner  struggle,  and  painfully  achieved  readjust- 
ment, and  may  still  develop  as  high  loyalties  and  keen 
enthusiasms  as  those  whose  experience  is  more  cata- 
clysmic. From  his  extensive  study  of  religion  in  ado- 
lescence Starbuck  drew  the  following  conditioning 
factors  of  this  gradual  development: 

i.  Religious  surroundings  in  childhood. — A  regu- 
lar religious  development  can  hardly  be  expected  unless 
there  has  been  a  wholesome  religious  environment  in 
early  life.  There  are  many  persons  who  cannot  recall 
any  marked  feeling  of  alienation  from  God  and  his 
kingdom  of  righteousness.  Instead  of  an  experience 
of  alienation  and  restoration  they  have  felt  ^^gradu^l 
widening  and  deepening  of  religious  concepts  and 

101 


PSYCHOLOGY   C)v    EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

/  ideals  and  a  gradual  modification  of  impulses  into  the 
(^  more  mature  reactions. 

2.  A  reasonable  freedom  from  dogmas  that  chil- 
dren are  incapable  of  assimilating. — Early  adoles- 
cence resembles  childhood  in  being  relatively  uninter- 
ested in  the  intellectual  doctrines  of  religion.     While 
these  boys  and  girls   have  definite   religious   beliefs, 
they  still  have  to  do  largely  with  the  more  objective 
facts  in  theological  and  other  doctrines  rather  than  the 
philosophic  and  highly  mystical  beliefs  that  engage  the 
interest  of  later  periods.     This  being  true,  there  are 
many  elements  in  religious  doctrine  which  cannot  be 
apprehended  at  this  period.    The  only  value  in  teach- 
ing such  doctrines  at  this  time  lies  in  the  acquisition 
and  retention  in  memory  of  the  verbal  forms  which  may 
later  become  significant  to  religion.     Catechetical  in- 
struction in  the  doctrines  of  the  church  is  quite  com- 
monly given  in  early  adolescence.     Part  of  this  can 
function  as  religious  education,  but  another  and  per- 
haps greater  part  is  not  religious  education  at  all,  be- 
cause its  religious  significance  is  not  appreciated  at  this 
stage  of  development.     And  the  too-early  emphasis 
upon  theological  doctrines  may  have  an  unwholesome 
effect  in  creating  a  distaste  for  religious  thinking. 

3.  The  needs  of  the  child  carefully  met  at  every 
point  in  his  development. — Here  is  the  responsibility 
upon  parents  and  teachers  throughout  the  period  of 
development.    Ours  is  a  delicate  task.     Early  adoles- 
cence is   beginning  to   revolt   against   authority   and 
dogmatism.     Tactful,  sympathetic  suggestion,   rather 
than  dogmatic  instruction,  must  be  our  method.     A 

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RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

concrete  illustration  of  the  most  wholesome  treatment 
of  adolescence  is  thus  reported  by  Professor  Starbuck: 

A  minister  of  the  writer's  acquaintance,  who  is  a 
wise  teacher  and  parent,  learned  indirectly  that  his  son 
was  beginning  to  inquire  into  the  things  he  had  been 
taught  and  had  even  asked  for  reasons  why  he  should 
believe  in  the  existence  of  God.  Instead  of  treating 
the  slumbering  doubt  as  an  offense  against  religion  and 
fearing  that  the  boy  was  on  the  downward  road  he 
awaited  his  opportunity  to  help  him  through  his  diffi- 
culties. He  described  the  incident  in  this  way :  "It 
was  in  the  evening.  We  walked  together,  chatting  in 
most  familiar  fashion.  I  took  him  by  the  hand  and, 
after  a  little  pause  in  the  conversation,  I  said  sub- 
stantially, "I  heard  something  good  about  you  the 
other  day — something  that  showed  that  you  are  grow- 
ing toward  manhood."  Of  course,  he  wanted  to  know 
what  I  had  heard,  and  I  told  him.  I  told  him  that  chil- 
dren get  most  of  their  first  ideas  from  their  parents, 
just  as  the  little  robins  get  their  food  from  their  par- 
ents, but  that  as  they  grow  they  want  to  know  some 
reason  for  their  opinions;  that  I  was  glad  to  have 
him  ask  for  reasons  for  believing  that  there  is  a  God ; 
that  this  question  of  his  made  my  heart  leap  with  glad- 
ness as  I  thought  of  the  time  when  we  would  sit  in 
my  study  as  companions  in  thought  and  talk  over  great 
things.  The  father  adds,  "The  boy  is  a  Christian  man 
at  this  writing,  preparing  a  graduating  thesis  on  Chris- 
tian ethics." 

4.  A  certain  mixture  of  faith  and  doubt. — Ajcer-  j/^ 

tain  degree  of  doubt  normally  indicates  a  development 
out  of  childish  credulity  to  the  more  reasoned  faith 
of  .adult  life.  In  early  adolescence  there  is  still  a  large 
element  of  the  child  type  of  faith,  while  doubt  be- 

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PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

comes  more  prominent  in  middle  and  later  adolescence. 
With  proper  guidance  there  need  be,  in  most  cases, 
no  epochal  shock  of  despairing  doubt  to  necessitate  a 
definite  crisis  experience. 

THE  CONVERSION  CRISIS 

Although  the  relatively  regular  development  above 
discussed  is  undoubtedly  the  most  desirable  type,  some 
sort  of  crisis  experience  in  adolescence  is  perfectly 
normal.  There  are  many  forces  to  disturb  regular 
development.  There  are  variations  in  physical  and 
mental  growth  which  may  combine  with  elements  in 
environment  to  develop  a  crisis  situation. 

When  conversion  occurs. — Conversion  in  the  sense 
of  abrupt  change  or  radical  break  with  the  past,  if  it 
occurs  at  all,  occurs  normally  in  adolescence.  It  rarely 
occurs  before  twelve  years  of  age  or  after  twenty- 
five.  The  normal  center  for  this  phenomenon  seems 
to  be  in  middle  adolescence,  but  there  are  many  cases 
between  twelve  and  fifteen.  The  curves  in  Figure  4, 
based  on  Starbuck's  extensive  data,  indicate  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  conversions  in  early  adoles- 
cence, but  a  much  greater  proportion  in  middle  adoles- 
cence, with  a  considerable  number  early  in  the  period 
of  later  adolescence. 

The  divided  self. — What  happens  in  the  typical  con- 
version experience  is  well  discussed  by  William  James, 
who  pictures  the  preconversion  state  as  one  approaches 
the  crisis  as  a  division  of  the  self.  While  the  con- 
version experience  is  not  of  itself  abnormal  it  may 
be  better  understood  by  a  reference  to  the  psychology 

104 


18 


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105 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

of  relatively  unusual  mental  states.  Every  normal  per- 
sonality has  a  variety  of  centers,  which  may  be  per- 
fectly consistent  with  one  another.  While  our  per- 
sonality is  consciously  centered  in  one  point,  we  may 
be  able  easily  to  recenter  it  in  another  point.  For  ex- 
ample, you  are  a  member  of  a  teacher-training  class. 
While  in  this  class  you  are  a  very  different  personality 
from  what  you  will  be  next  Saturday  as  a  spectator 
at  a  baseball  game.  You  recognize  a  certain  unity  in 
your  personality  in  these  two  situations  and  also  a 
diversity.  At  Saturday's  game  you  may  shout  and 
cheer  enthusiastically;  here  it  would  be  impossible  to 
shout  in  any  such  manner.  This  normal  variation  of 
personality  may  be  illustrated  by  Figure  5a.  Here  is 
a  unitary  personality,  to  be  sure,  but  with  two  quite 
different  centers :  In  a  sense  you  are  two  persons — a 
student  and  a  baseball  enthusiast;  but  there  is  such  a 
close  relationship  between  the  two  personality  centers 
that  they  are  harmonious.  As  a  student  you  are  con- 
scious of  the  personality  organized  about  the  baseball 
center.  In  this  sense  every  personality  is  a  complex. 
Every  distinct  interest  forms  a  more  or  less  organized 
group  of  attitudes  and  ideals  and  feelings  about  a 
center. 

Abnormal  dual  personality. — In  abnormal  states, 
with  an  intervening  series  of  variations,  there  may  be 
such  a  separation  of  the  personality-centers  above  de- 
scribed that  one  can  with  difficulty  pass  from  one  center 
to  another  or  not  at  all.  The  latter  extreme  may  be 
pictured  as  in  Figure  5b,  which  represents  a  distinct 
case  of  double  or  alternating  personality,  the  person 

1 06 


107 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

while  in  state  "a"  being  entirely  unconscious  of  state 
"b."  This  is  the  Dr.-Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde  type  of 
mental  abnormality. 

Inner  strain. — This  matter  of  varying  centers  of 
personality  is  discussed  thus  at  length  to  illustrate  the 
fundamental  nature  of  the  preconversion  state.  In 
adolescent  boys  and  girls  there  develops  normally  a 
sense  of  sin,  of  some  degree  of  moral  delinquency. 
Thus  one  comes  to  have  a  certain  degree  of  inner  strain 
between  those  moral  ideals  which  form  one  center  or 
core  of  personality  and  the  contrary  impulses  that  con- 
stitute another  personality  center.  This  inner  strain, 
which  Paul  describes  in  Rom.  7.  15-21,  may  involve  a 
sense  of  estrangement  and  inconsistency  of  behavior 
so  slight  that  the  personality  may  be  easily  harmonized 
by  the  union  of  the  centers  representing  ideals  and 
behavior,  so  that  there  is  no  distinct  crisis  experience. 
This  type  of  experience,  illustrated  in  Figure  6a,  may 
be  found  in  the  cases  of  gradual  development  here- 
tofore described.  A  wider  variance  between  moral 
and  religious  ideals  and  behavior,  illustrated  in  Figure 
6b,  may  necessitate  a  distinct  conversion  crisis,  while 
such  a  variation  as  that  shown  in  Figure  6c  may  involve 
an  extremely  acute  sense  of  inner  division  and  call  for 
a  very  painful  crisis  experience. 

Development  types  in  early  adolescence. — Of 
these  types  of  religious  development  that  shown  in 
Figure  6a  is  a  very  frequent  form  in  early  adolescence. 
Occasionally  the  type  indicated  by  Figure  6b  appears. 
The  type  of  Figure  6c  is  rare  until  middle  adolescence 
or  later. 

108 


109 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

EVANGELISM  FOR  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

The  foregoing  discussion  of  adolescent  religious  de- 
velopment seems  to  indicate  that  the  best  type  of 
evangelism  for  this  period  is  the  religious  teaching  and 
influence  which  will  contribute  to  steady  growth.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  awaken  the  conscience  of  this  period 
by  the  powerful  stimulation  of  evangelistic  campaigns. 
In  fact,  the  excitement  of  such  campaigns  and  their 
appeal  to  primitive  emotions  may  be  distinctly  harm- 
ful to  boys  and  girls.  They  need  gentler  methods ;  but, 
far  more  tlian  methods,  they  need  sympathy  and 
friendly  counsel. 

While  we  are  no  longer  satisfied  with  the  idea  that 
children  are  born  outside  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  have 
not  fully  recognized  the  implications  of  the  more 
Christian  teaching  that  "to  such  belongeth  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  The  chief  evangelistic  work  of  the  church 
is  in  guiding  the  steps  of  the  inexperienced  boys  and 
girls  from  one  stage  of  religious  experience  to  an- 
other. In  early  adolescence  we  wish  our  boys  and 
girls  to  become  responsible  members  of  the  church, 
and  we  too  often  set  before  them  a  life  decision  that 
suggests  rejection  of  the  Christian0  life  almost  as 
strongly  as  its  acceptance.  Sometimes  we  give  them 
such  conceptions  of  Christian  experience,  adult  rather 
than  adolescent,  that  they  are  discouraged  or  else  lose 
interest  in  religion.  Boys  and  girls  in  this  period  are 
frequently  puzzled  and  concerned  about  religious  prob- 
lems that  are  generally  unknown  to  either  childhood 
or  adulthood.  "I  do  wish  I  could  know  whether  I'm 


no 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

good  or  naughty,"  said  one  fourteen-year-old  girl. 
This  is  an  encouraging  evidence  of  a  new  conception  of 
goodness,  but  it  indicates  also  the  peculiar  problems 
these  inexperienced  young  people  are  facing. 

Graded  lessons  and  evangelism. — In  this  connec- 
tion something  should  be  said  of  the  value  of  graded 
lessons  as  an  evangelistic  agency.  The  aim  of  graded 
lessons  is  greater  efficiency  in  the  development  at  each 
stage  of  the  appropriate  religious  experience.  It  is 
fundamentally  important  that  every  teacher  have  an 
evangelistic  conception  of  his  work.  His  task  is  not 
merely  that  of  teaching  the  content  of  a  textbook;  it 
is  developing  the  religious  and  moral  nature  of  the 
pupils.  Graded  lessons  are  designed  by  trained  Chris- 
tian educators  as  a  means  to  this  development.  There- 
fore, the  evangelistic  impulse  should  be  felt  not  merely 
in  special  seasons  of  religious  emphasis,  but  also  in  the 
weekly  and  daily  faithfulness  with  which  boys  and 
girls  are  trained  in  and  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

CONCEPTIONS  OF  GOD 

Mental  and  religious  development  from  childhood 
to  adult  life  involves  changing  conceptions  of  God. 
In  childhood  God  is  objectified,  usually  as  a  more 
powerful  man,  somewhere  in  space.  Probably  the 
form  of  this  visual  picture  is  largely  determined  by  the 
symbols  of  God  and  heaven  which  our  teachings  have 
contained,  but  naturally  a  child  tends  to  localize  God 
and  visualize  him.  Throughout  adolescence  religion 
is  becoming  more  and  more  internalized  and  spiritual- 
ized, but  in  early  adolescence  the  childish  conception  of 

in 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARLY   ADOLESCENCE 

relation  to  a  God  in  visible  form  is  still  largely  domi- 
nant. Without  denying  the  childish  conceptions  that 
remain  the  teacher  should  seek  to  develop  a  more 
spiritual  conception,  a  broader,  more  universal  con- 
ception of  God,  and  to  emphasize  the  attitudes  toward 
him  involved  in  moral  conduct.  t^ 

Keeping  the  boys  and  girk  in  mind. — It  is  well  to 
remember  the  keen,  questioning  minds  of  our  boys  and 
girls  in  planning  our  forms  of  worship.  When  we 
speak  of  God  as  looking  down  upon  us,  when  we 
appeal  to  him  to  come  to  us,  to  be  with  us  in  our 
worship,  the  figurative  language  may  satisfy  us;  but 
the  thirteen-year-old  boy  or  girl  may  wonder  where 
we  think  God  is  and  whether  he  had  to  be  invited  to 
come  to  the  place  where  we  worship  him.  And  when 
we  picture  God  as  constantly  watching  to  see  when 
we  do  wrong,  or  as  being  satisfied  only  with  the  blood 
of  retribution,  we  are  injecting  into  tender  hearts  that 
which  may  alienate  them  from  the  really  loving,  sym- 
pathizing, and  companionable  Father. 

MORALITY  AND  SERVICE 

Boys  and  girls  in  early  adolescence  appear  to  be 
relatively  little  concerned  with  the  intellectual  phases 
of  religion.  They  are  not  yet  ready  to  formulate  a 
working  philosophy  of  religion.  They  are  little  inter- 
ested in  doctrines  and  creeds.  But  they  are  interested 
in-  the  practical  applications  of  religion.  They  are 
opening  their  eyes  to  the  possibilities  of  a  social  world, 
and  religious  problems  are  for  them  largely  problems 
of  conduct.  They  still  hold  the  conception  of  God  as 

112 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

a  king  whose  will  is  law;  but  the  moral  nature  of 
divine  law  is  becoming  felt.  This  is  a  providential 
time  for  presenting  the  moral  and  social  phases  of  the 
Christian  life.  A  program  of  social  helpfulness,  de- 
veloping the  habits  of  feeling  and  responsibility  for 
others  and  encouraging  worthy  social  attitudes  and 
ideals,  is  of  the  highest  value.  Among  the  valuable 
means  to  this  development  should  be  mentioned  the 
activities  fostered  by  the  organizations  of  Boy  Scouts 
and  Camp  Fire  Girls.  These  organizations  may  be 
profitably  utilized  by  the  Intermediate  Department,  and 
their  judiciously  chosen  activities  may  thus  be  linked 
up  with  the  church  school. 

PROBLEMS 

1.  Recall  your  own  experience  in  early  adolescence 
as  far  as  possible.   What  ideas  of  God  do  you  recall? 
How  did  your  religious  life  differ  from  that  of  to-day  ? 
Was  your  development  of  the  crisis  type  or  a  more 
gradual  development  ? 

2.  Study  a  group  of  early  adolescents.     In  what 
parts  of  the  Bible  are  they  most  interested?     What 
books  or  stories  do  they  read?    What  sort  of  personali- 
ties most  appeal  to  them? 

3.  Examine  the  hymnbook  which  you  use.     How 
many  of  its  hymns  appeal  to  the  interests  and  ideals 
of  intermediates? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

Girlhood  and  Character,  Moxcey,  Chapter  VIII. 

A  Social  Theory  of  Religious  Education,  Coe,  Chap- 
ters XVI  and  XXIII. 

The  Psychology  of  Adolescence,  Tracy,  Chapter 
X.1II. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  EARI.Y  ADOLESCENCE 

How  to  Teach  Religion,  Betts,  Chapters  V  and  VI. 

The  Sunday  School  and  the  Teens,  Alexander,  Chap- 
ters I  to  IV. 

The  Psychology  of  Religion,  Starbuck. 

The  Teacher's  Study  of  the  Life  of  Christ,  Barclay, 
Lesson  VIII. 

Life  in  the  Making,  Barclay  and  others,  Chapter  XII. 

V&rieties  of  Religious  Experience,  James. 


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